Legislative officials in California are aiming to curb a deadly issue that impacts Santa Monica and beyond.
This past week, Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine) and colleagues held a press conference discussing her latest piece of legislation, AB 366. The bill takes aim at the state’s drunk driving events, stopping the expiration of California’s current interlock ignition device policy.
The bill requires anyone convicted of a first drunk driving offense to install the device in their vehicle, something Petrie-Norris said she says works because of results in the 35 states that have such legislation. She also stressed, though, that “these are not just statistics.”
“These are mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, neighbors and friends,” Petrie-Norris said. “This is an urgent call to action … AB 366 is an opportunity for us to save lives, for us to stop these tragic and preventable deaths before the car even starts.”
One of these preventable deaths was the passing of Sen. Bob Archuleta’s granddaughter, Samantha, who was killed by a drunk driver over the holidays. The senator and his wife received the news on Christmas Eve.
“They couldn’t even identify [her at first] … she was only 30 years of age, got her Master’s, ready to start her life as a social worker and help those who truly need help, and that drunk driver unfortunately took her life,” Archuleta said. “This is a profound loss to our family, but a tragedy no family should endure.”
The senator added that this isn’t a Republican or Democrat issue, but a “family issue” that requires bipartisan support.
Santa Monica is not immune to California’s drunk driving epidemic, neighboring the City of Los Angeles that is one of the 10 cities with the worst drunk driving rates in the country. According to the California Office of Traffic Safety, of the 522 victims of Santa Monica accidents causing death or injury in 2022, 36 of those involved alcohol.
The same year, 162 DUI arrests were made in Santa Monica, with CDC research stating that an offender arrested for their first DUI has driven, on average, 80 times while intoxicated. Santa Monica Police Department Public Information Coordinator Myesha Morrison reminded residents last year that impaired driving can also come from marijuana, prescription medication or over-the-counter drugs.
Someone who made those arrests for years, California Association of Highway Patrolman President Jake Johnson said these accidents transcend “all walks of life, all genders, all races (and) ages.”
“We have 40 million registered vehicles in the state of California,” Johnson said. “That is a lot of drivers, and there’s not enough cops to go out [and] arrest everybody out there. We need this [interlock] device. California should be on the forefront of technology, we shouldn’t be behind, and we’re behind when it comes to interlock devices.”
Petrie-Norris said now that the bill has been introduced, she is looking forward to the beginning of committee hearings within the next two months.
thomas@smdp.com
