We went to Sacramento for the ‘Stop Super Speeders Act’; now we need YOU
Earlier this week, Walk SF headed to Sacramento with our San Francisco Bay Area chapter of Families for Safe Streets to share stories with legislators about why every possible solution is needed to address dangerous speeding.
The stories courageously shared by Families for Safe Streets members with over 30 legislators’ offices on Tuesday show the heartbreaking toll – and also how vulnerable we all are.
A five-year-old girl, killed in the crosswalk of her school by a speeding driver, which her surviving sister had to witness. A woman on a jog celebrating the end of her husband’s chemotherapy, hit by a speeding driver with the impact breaking her neck and back. A 21-year-old man who loved basketball, art, and his friends, killed in an instant by a speeding driver.
Right now, state legislators have the chance to pass a groundbreaking bill that would bring a proven and powerful new tool to California to address dangerous speeding.
Called the ‘Stop Super Speeders Act’, AB 2276 (Soria) would require what’s called ‘active Intelligent Speed Assistance’ to be installed in the vehicles of drivers convicted of severe speeding-related offenses. This preventative approach targets the drivers who pose the greatest threat to us all, and acknowledges the fact that 75% of drivers with suspended licenses continue to drive.
While AB 2276 was passed unanimously by the Assembly Privacy Committee and Assembly Public Safety Committee, AB 2276 now faces its biggest hurdle: the Assembly Appropriations Committee, which most bills never make it out of.
Bay Area Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (parts of Oakland; Berkeley; Richmond; Pinole) is Chair of this Committee. Help us send hundreds of emails to her now. AB 2276 must move out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee by Thursday, May 15, or it’s over for this bill this legislative session! And that’s up to Assemblymember Wicks.
Like we’re seeing with speed cameras, there are proven safety technologies that can dramatically change driver behavior and reduce the number of tragedies on our streets.
And we need them now. The pandemic unleashed more frequent, extreme speeding and reckless driving, and these trends have continued. New vehicles can reach high speeds in just a few seconds. Drivers are more distracted and aggressive than ever before, putting us all at risk.
Walk SF is proud to be supporting AB 2276, and grateful to Families for Safe Streets members for educating legislators as to why bills like this are desperately needed.
A special thank you to National Families for Safe Streets. Two of their staff joined us in Sacramento in support of AB 2276, and the organization is supporting efforts around the country to pass ‘Stop Super Speeder’ bills.
