I’m proud to stand with crash survivor Jeff Rogers to spotlight how extreme speeding devastates families and communities across New Hampshire. By focusing on practical, commonsense measures, we can reduce preventable tragedies and create safer communities for everyone.
I invite you to read our op-ed and learn more about how we can move forward together to protect lives across our state.
After The Union Leader published a front-page story on highway safety a few weeks back, I shared it publicly to invite discussion. I expected disagreement — that is healthy and part of civic life. What surprised me was how often the seriousness of speeding was dismissed entirely. Comments like, “Just stay out of the left lane,” “Speed doesn’t kill — bad drivers do,” or “This is just government overreach” appeared repeatedly.
Speeding puts everyone at risk. SB 618 is a commonsense step to improve driver safety by addressing repeat dangerous speeding and giving courts better tools to prevent tragic crashes before they happen. This bill is about accountability, safer streets, and saving lives — for drivers, passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike.
I understand those reactions. Granite Staters value independence, fairness, and personal responsibility. I share those values. But as a legislator — and as someone who cares deeply about the safety of the people who live, work, and raise families here — I cannot ignore what is happening on our roads. Extreme, repeat speeding is costing lives and our current laws are not stopping it.
The numbers are stark. Between 2004 and 2021, 40 percent of fatal crashes in New Hampshire involved a speeding driver, claiming more than 800 lives. In 2023 alone, 126 drivers were cited for traveling over 100 miles per hour, including 10 who exceeded 110. These are not momentary lapses in judgment. They are deliberate, reckless choices, often repeated, that put everyone else at risk. A relatively small number of drivers are responsible for a disproportionate share of harm.
That reality is why I sponsored SB 618, the Stop Super Speeders bill. When the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony, I testified alongside Jeff Rogers of Manchester. His experience helps put a human face on these statistics.
In 2015, Jeff was nearly killed in a severe crash on a road known for chronic speeding. His injuries — a fractured skull, ribs, and pelvis — were consistent with a high-impact collision. No other vehicle remained on the scene. Doctors initially told his wife that he likely would not survive the weekend. Jeff spent weeks in a medically induced coma, followed by five weeks in the hospital, where he had to relearn how to walk and feed himself.
His recovery took months. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and required extensive physical, speech, and occupational therapy, along with frequent visits to one of only two neuro-ophthalmologists in the state. His wife repeatedly disrupted her work to care for him. At the time of the crash, Jeff managed teams of software engineers in New Hampshire and overseas. His employer had to cancel an important project and reassign responsibilities while uncertainty remained about his recovery. His wife, a small business owner, reduced her client commitments, affecting her income. Their medical and rehabilitation costs approached half a million dollars.
Jeff shared his story not for sympathy, but to make a point: this is what a serious speeding crash looks like beyond a police report. It is why he joined Families for Safe Streets and why he supports stronger tools to address extreme, repeat speeding.
Sadly, Jeff’s story is not unique. According to the Governor’s Special Task Force on Highway Safety, New Hampshire has seen a 230 percent increase since 2018 in vehicles traveling over 100 miles per hour. In 2023, nearly 36,000 speeding citations were issued statewide. Speeding is a factor in roughly 30,000 crashes each year, and 46 people were killed in speed-related crashes that same year. While overall crashes have declined, deadly crashes increased by nearly 50 percent between 2019 and 2022.
Our current approach is not working. Fines can be paid and forgotten. License suspensions are frequently ignored — about 75 percent of suspended drivers continue to drive anyway. Removing a license without changing behavior does not adequately protect the public.
SB 618 sought to address that gap by giving judges an additional option for the most extreme, repeat offenders: requiring an intelligent speed assistance device. These devices use GPS technology to prevent vehicles from exceeding posted speed limits, adjusting as limits change, similar in concept to ignition interlock devices used after DUI convictions. The bill was narrowly focused and did not apply to everyday drivers — only to those who repeatedly demonstrate dangerous behavior.
During Senate consideration, it became clear that while the goal of the legislation was sound, the bill needed additional refinement. For that reason, the Senate voted to retain SB 618 and refer it to Interim Study. That decision was not a dismissal of the issue, but an acknowledgment that we must get this right.
Over the coming months, I believe we can. Working with the Traffic Safety Commission, the Department of Public Safety, and other stakeholders, I am confident a clearer, stronger, and more effective version of this legislation can return before the Senate in 2027.
This conversation is not about politics. It is about responsibility — to one another and to the families whose lives can be changed in an instant. Speeding is not a victimless act. Thoughtful, well-crafted legislation can save lives, and New Hampshire must continue working toward that goal.
Sen. Denise Ricciardi, R-Bedford, represents District 9 and is the sponsor of SB 618. She is joined in this opinion by Jeff Rogers a member of Families for Safe Streets; a board member of Bike Walk Alliance of New Hampshire and survivor of a severe crash as the result of speeding. He lives in Manchester.