Road Safety Advocates Host “Intelligent Speed Assist” Demonstration Event

“Intelligent Speed Assist is a proven tool that targets the most dangerous drivers and ensures they cannot exceed safe speeds,” said Amy Cohen, Founder and President of Families for Safe Streets.

The Providence Streets Coalition and Families For Safe Streets - advocates for safe streets and organizations representing families of victims of traffic violence - hosted an event to showcase the technology that is central to the Stop Super Speeders Accountability Act (H8098/S2942). Sponsored by Representative Julie Casimiro (Democrat, District 31, North Kingstown, Exeter) and Senator Mathew LaMountain (Democrat, District 31, Warwick, Cranston), this legislation would hold the worst offenders of speeding and reckless driving accountable with Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), a device that limits vehicle speed to the posted speed limits.

As a reporter, I was given the opportunity to be a passenger in a care outfitted with an ISA. The ride was smooth, since the device begins to taper off the vehicle speed as the car approaches the speed limit, eliminating sudden or jarring changes in acceleration.

“The Stop Super Speeders Accountability Act addresses speeding. Speeding contributes to one-third of deadly crashes across the United States, and a small number of super speeders are disproportionately responsible,” said Dylan Giles, Operations Manager at the Providence Streets Coalition. “The technology we’re demonstrating today in vehicles is being driven by the most dangerous speeders. Intelligent Speed Assist is a proven lifesaving technology that helps vehicles stay within the listed speed limit.

“It stops speeding while allowing otherwise high-risk drivers to make daily trips. Our work at the Providence Streets Coalition is primarily founded on the safety of pedestrians, bike riders, and bus riders.

“While our work often focuses on building infrastructure that creates self-enforcing roads that passively reduce vehicle speeds and increase safety for vulnerable road users, the reality is that this infrastructure takes many years and a generational shift in how we approach roadway design. This technology is something that we can do now to reduce serious fatalities without waiting years for infrastructure to catch up to the reality that pedestrian deaths are on the rise here in Rhode Island and across the country.”

“Excessive speeding is one of the most preventable causes of serious injury and death on our roads,” said Senator LaMountain. “This legislation puts in place real restrictions, not just fines that fail to change behavior, ensuring repeat offenders are held accountable and dangerous driving is stopped before it leads to tragedy.”

“This is a really cool tool for our courts to have at their disposal. People who speed excessively and lose their license, and about 75% of them drive anyway after they lose their license,” said Representative Casimiro. “This will be a good tool to help prevent that. All too often, we’re seeing tragedy after tragedy on our roadways, resulting from individuals who have no regard for others’ safety. Excessive speeding, reckless and dangerous driving, and refusal to follow the rules of the road are costing Rhode Islanders their lives. This bill will give the courts a valuable tool to help protect the public from habitual offenders and will save numerous lives in the process. I’m very confident this bill will pass because I haven’t found anyone who doesn’t like it so far.

“I just drove a vehicle with the ISA in it, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works. It knows where you are and what the speed limit is, and it prevents you from going over it. No matter how hard you try.”

Every week, one to two people are killed in crashes in Rhode Island, and five suffer serious injuries. On average, over the last decade, over 40% of traffic deaths were speed-related. Studies in the U.S. show a small group of “super speeders” is up to five times more likely to be involved in a serious or fatal crash.

“I stand here today as a mother who has lived through the unimaginable. It’s 2013, and it’s still hard,” said Amy Cohen, Founder and President of Families for Safe Streets. “That morning, I kissed my son goodbye as he headed to school, and I went to work. After my day, I was on my way to my daughter’s parent-teacher conferences while he headed to soccer practice. Across the street from our home. What should have been an ordinary day ended in tragedy. My life and our family’s life were forever changed. No parent should have to bury their child. But I am sadly not alone. In Rhode Island, so many people, young and old, walking, biking, and driving, have lost their lives or been seriously injured in crashes caused by speeding.

“On December 7th, 2025, in Hope Valley, 70-year-old Roderick McCled, a Grammy-nominated musician, was struck and killed while walking his dogs. On October 14th, 2025, a pedestrian was killed crossing I- 95 in Providence. March 3rd, 2024, a 17-year-old died in Cumberland. August 4th, 2025, an 18-year-old from Providence was killed in a three-vehicle crash on I- 95 in Seaconk, with several teens injured. In Coventry, September 30th, 2025, a car crashed through a daycare playground fence, sending five children ages seven and eight to the hospital.

“These examples are only a part of the toll. Countless others suffered traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, and limbs lost, forever changing families’ lives. Speeding is not just a traffic violation. In 2019, 63% of all traffic deaths in Rhode Island were speed-related. The highest percentage in the nation. Crashes do more than take lives. They devastate families, and they can take someone’s future. Families for Safe Streets is a national organization of people whose lives have been changed by traffic violence. We support what each other advocate for, safe streets, and work to prevent these tragedies. We are committed to data-driven policies and technologies, such as intelligent speed assistance, that have been shown to reduce high-risk speeding and serious crashes. ISA is a common-sense tool. It’s about protecting families like mine, like Roderick’s, like all those others. And we’re seeing momentum across the country. Bills are advancing in 16 states.

“It shows that lawmakers recognize the urgent need to act, and we are leading the way on this measure because we know it’s effective and will make a difference. So thank you to everybody who got to see the technology in action. I will say people often ask: Will it work in old cars, new cars, or hybrids? And I have an old, crappy hybrid car, and I got the device in it. It works in everything, and I’m so glad so many of you got to see it in action. We’ll be here a little longer, and I hope you’ll try it because every life lost or someone forever changed by injury, by speeding. It is preventable. We have the tools, we have the opportunity, and we must act.”

The Super Speeders Accountability Act would allow Rhode Island judges to order installation of an ISA device in vehicles of eligible offenders – someone whose license has been suspended due to a district court conviction or administrative finding by the traffic tribunal of excessive speeding, racing, or reckless driving where speed was a factor, or a person who has been convicted of multiple serious moving offenses. Installing the device will allow these drivers to meet their daily needs without having their licenses suspended or incurring additional convictions or fines. Drivers will be responsible for the cost of the device.

“I’m so grateful to Representative Casimiro and Senator LaMountain for introducing a Super Speeders Accountability Act — legislation that addresses a crisis I know all too personally,” said Lisa Pope, a member of Families for Safe Streets and a Rhode Island resident. “On February 14, 2023, my boyfriend, Zacory Richardson, was struck and killed while crossing North Main Street in Providence. The driver fled the scene, leaving a life tragically cut short. Losing Zacory has been a pain no one should ever endure. He was part of our community, deeply loved, and his loss highlights the devastating consequences of reckless driving. Streets like North Main, where high speeds are common, put pedestrians at extreme risk — a risk that can be mitigated with this bill.”

“I thank Representative Casimiro and Senator LaMountain for advancing efforts to address dangerous speeding, an issue that has become heartbreakingly personal for my family,” said Nicole O’Loughlin, Political Director for the Providence Streets Coalition and aunt of Hudson O’Loughlin. “Earlier this year, my six-year-old nephew, Hudson, was struck and killed while riding his bicycle in San Diego. Losing Hudson has been a pain no family should endure. He was joyful, curious, and deeply loved, and his loss highlights the deadly consequences of unsafe streets. I work every day to improve infrastructure and put in place solutions to save lives, and I carry Hudson’s memory into this work. I am now one of the many families who have experienced preventable loss, urging leaders to act boldly so no other family faces the heartbreak we now live with.”