There are a lot of good safe transportation proposals pending at the North Carolina General Assembly.

Multiple safety groups are pushing for House Bill 1199 – named “The Seatbelt Act.” You might also hear this called the “Super Speeders” bill because it would require people who lose their drivers license over repeated speeding, reckless driving and other serious offenses to install an “Intelligent Speed Assistance” device that would limit their vehicle’s speed, forcing them to go the speed limit or slower.

In 2024, speed was a factor in 42% of fatal crashes in North Carolina, according to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, much higher than the national average of 29%. Virginia recently passed a law requiring ISA devices for people convicted of reckless driving over 100 mph and will begin enforcing it this summer, according to The News & Observer.

But House Bill 1199 is broader than the speeding issue. It would also expand the use of traffic cameras to enforce the law in school zones, and it would strengthen the state’s drunk driving laws to require ignition interlocks for all DWI offenders, a change Mothers Against Drunk Driving has called for repeatedly.

MADD says nearly 30% of all traffic deaths in North Carolina involve impaired driving. Current state law requires some DWI offenders to install interlock systems that prevent the car from starting until they pass a breathalyzer test attached to the vehicle, but first-time offenders avoid that unless their blood alcohol concentration hits .15 or higher.

House Bill 1199 would require ignition interlocks for all DWI offenders at 0.08 BAC or above, according to MADD, as well as for anyone who refuses chemical testing. Research shows ignition interlocks reduce repeat drunk driving offenses by roughly 70%, according to MADD.

NC Alliance for Safe Transportation Executive Director Joe Stewart and NCAST Board Chair Tiffany Wright joined press conferences last month supporting the bill, which is sponsored by Rep. Mike Schietzelt, a 2026 Sweethearts of Safety Award winner whose name rhymes with “seatbelt.”

Schietzelt also sponsored House Bill 789, which would allow some people charged with DWI to keep driving ahead of their trial, provided they install an ignition interlock system. That bill passed the NC House 100-7 last year, but it’s been sitting in the state Senate without action, and much of the focus for advocates has shifted to 1199.

In other legislative news:

• Advocates are optimistic the General Assembly will come through with funding for new wildlife crossing funding, which would protect both animals and people. A driver hits an animal in the United States every 26 seconds, these crashes kill hundreds of people and cost some $12 billion a year. Wildlife crossing structures reduce collisions involving wildlife by up to 97%, according to the Safe Passage coalition.

• Senate Bill 797, which would make it illegal to drive with a cell phone in your hand, hasn’t gotten a committee hearing – an important early step to passage. But there’s still time this legislative session to get the bill moving. The idea polls above 90% in North Carolina, and 31 other states have a law like it.

If you favor these ideas, tell your lawmakers. They listen. You can look up your House and Senate members and email them here.