Vehicles need speeding and DUI detection technology to earn the IIHS’s seal of approval starting in 2027
Today’s cars are vastly safer than their predecessors of 20 years ago, but now one American safety organization is moving the goalposts to ensure the next generation of cars are safer again.
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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has tightened up its judging criteria when it comes to a prestigious safety award. Starting in 2027 new cars will need to come equipped with both anti-speeding technology and alcohol detection systems to be in with a chance of earning the IIHS’s Top Safety Pick+ rating.
Shifting Standards
Those new demands were revealed this week at a meeting with the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) group, the IIHS highlighting that both speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol are two of the biggest causes of fatal traffic accidents in the US. The IIHS thinks up to 10,000 lives could be saved annually if automakers adopt the tech preventing anyone with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher from driving.
Currently, there’s no legal obligation for carmakers to do so at a federal level, though several states, including Virginia, have introduced rules that will, from 2026, restrict known speeders to cars fitted with ISA tech.
Lessons From Europe
European cars are already fitted with intelligent speed assistance (ISA) technology by law. The equipment doesn’t outright prevent you from breaching the speed limit, but instead discourages you from doing so, in most cases by emitting annoying beeps. Automakers routinely fit switches that allow drivers to deactivate the systems, which are generally unpopular.
“As part of our 30×30 vision to cut U.S. road deaths 30 percent by 2030, we are committed to addressing the risky — and often illegal — behavior that underlies most fatalities today,” IIHS president, David Harkey said of the new judging criteria.
“One way we plan to do that is to leverage our ratings and award programs to encourage automakers to adopt this new class of safety technology, just as we got them to improve vehicle structures, airbags and collision avoidance systems.”
Would you support automakers fitting anti-speed and alcohol detection gear to new cars?
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Chris is a seasoned automotive journalist with over two decades of experience. He has worked… Read full bio

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