FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – A bill to discourage speeding is now on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk.
SB 961 would require new cars sold in California to be equipped with “passive intelligence speed assistance systems” by 2030.
The system would alert drivers when they are 10 miles per hour over the speed limit.
Fresno father Joe Martinez advocated for the bill after losing his son to a car crash.
He says his son Paul was crossing the street on June 5, 2013, when someone hit and killed him.
“You could never forget as a parent. When you lose a child, that pain never leaves,” Martinez said.
He says the driver who hit his son was going 14 miles per hour over the speed limit.
“[Paul] is gone. It’s so final, and so I cling on to the hope that one day we’ll be reunited. As a family of faith, we hold onto that,” Martinez said.
Because of his passion for traffic safety, he acted as a special witness for SB 961.
“It seems like a really simple solution to a really big problem,” Patricia Rillera with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) said.