According to the Edmonton Journal, Transport Canada researcher Paul Boase presented his newest idea to officials at a traffic conference in Edmonton this week -- a device that uses digital mapping and GPS to override a vehicle's manual controls and slow it down if it exceeds past the posted speed limit.

Theoretically, every new vehicle could be equipped with the device, but the first application would likely be for habitual speeders, or drivers whose speeding causes a serious accident, he said.

Remote vehicle control is not new in the trucking industry, of course. Various GPS-based security technologies allow fleet managers to control almost any aspect of a truck's functions from miles away -- everything from locking cargo doors to disabling the vehicle through the engine's ECM.

Boase tested his technology on 10 volunteers in the Ottawa area. The technology worked but speed maps would have to be developed for all roads before the device could be implemented nationally, notes Boase.

The newspaper reports that Transport Canada has also tested a device that gives a verbal warning when the driver speeds.

Meanwhile, legislators in Quebec and Ontario are on the verge of mandating speed limiters on all trucks hauling in each province. Quebec has already passed a bill that includes such a provision, but is waiting for other jurisdictions -- namely Ontario -- to table a similar bill before it presses on.

-- with files from the Edmonton Journal