Today California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 162 by Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez to prevent wrong way driving accidents.
Assembly Bill 162 instructs the California Department of Transportation to study wrong-way driving accidents—which has not been done in California since 1989-- and look at safety measures pursued by other states that could prevent wrong way driving accidents. The bill requires a preliminary report due to the legislature by December 1, 2015 and a final report by July 1, 2016.
“Wrong-way driving crashes are catastrophic and deadly. California should be doing more to prevent them,” said Assemblymember Rodriguez. “I am very pleased that the Governor signed this bill and recognized the urgent need to review and improve the safety measures on our freeways. I look forward to working with the California Department of Transportation to make our freeways safer.
A recent string of wrong-way crashes in both Sacramento and San Diego have made headlines across California. In Sacramento, 14 people were killed in four wrong-way driving accidents since January. In San Diego, 6 people died as a result of 3 wrong-way accidents during a one-month span.
In response to these deadly accidents and accidents that have occurred across the state, Assemblymember Rodriguez is launching a public awareness campaign to alert motorists to be on the lookout for wrong way drivers. A radio public service announcement can be found here.