Legislation to Create Statewide Hit-and-Run Alert System
Passes Assembly’s Transportation Committee
SACRAMENTO, CA – Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Glendale) fight to reduce hit-and-run crimes continued today when the Assembly Transportation Committee approved his AB 8 by a vote of 16 to 0. The measure would establish the “Yellow Alert” system, which would allow law enforcement to engage the most logical group of people to help apprehend hit-and-run perpetrators: other drivers.
AB 8 would enable the use of the state’s existing network of freeway signs to broadcast information about vehicles suspected in hit-and-run incidents. Use of the system would be limited to hit-and-runs that result in death or serious bodily injury. Alerts would be issued by local law enforcement when there is a sufficient description of the offending vehicle or the identity of the suspect is known. A “Yellow Alert” would be limited to the area where the hit-and-run crime occurred. When Denver created a similar alert system in 2012, they saw an incredible 76% arrest rate in cases where the alert was activated, compared to Los Angeles’ arrest rate of around 20%. The success of the program prompted Colorado’s legislature to implement the program statewide.
“It’s gotten to the point to where not a single weekend goes by without all of us seeing on the news another hit-and-run tragedy,” said Gatto. “The reason why so many people flee after accidents is because there’s little chance that they will actually be brought to justice.”
AB 8 comes during of one of the worst periods of hit-and-run collisions in California. On March 6th in Glendale, a city Assemblyman Gatto represents, a 4-year-old was killed in a hit-and-run collision when a driver sideswiped her. The driver failed to stop and most likely fled on a freeway located within a half mile of the scene. Gatto was just blocks away from where the incident occurred and stopped by the scene, where officers mentioned how useful Gatto’s legislation would have been. The incident was reminiscent of another incident in Gatto’s district. In 2013, cyclist Damian Kevitt suffered a hit-and-run that caused him to be dragged nearly a quarter-mile down the Interstate 5 freeway. Kevitt survived, but other victims have not been so fortunate. Since then, Gatto has worked to raise awareness of hit-and-runs across California and create legislative change to address the issue.
“California has the existing infrastructure in place, it makes sense for us to use it,” said the Assemblyman. “We need to get the message out to people who commit these crimes that if you commit a hit-and-run, your license plate and vehicle description will be broadcast throughout our freeways.”
In 2013, Gatto authored AB 184, which doubled the statute of limitations to prosecute hit-and-run drivers. In 2014, he authored AB 47 and AB 1532, the latter of which would require mandatory license suspension for anyone convicted of a hit-and-run involving another person. Both bills passed the legislature with overwhelming majorities. Despite the bipartisan support and narrowly tailored language of AB 47, Governor Brown vetoed the bills in September.
Video of the committee hearing can be viewed at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VU2gqhYySg&edit=vd
Mike Gatto is the Chairman of the Consumer Protection and Privacy Committee, and the longest-serving current member of the State Assembly. He represents California’s 43rd Assembly District, which includes Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Atwater Village, East Hollywood, Franklin Hills, Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, and Silver Lake. www.asm.ca.gov/gatto
