Assembly Passes SB 1472- Ryan’s Law to Protect California from Dangerous Speeding, Street Racing, and Side Shows

Sacramento, CA- In a 73 to 0 vote, SB 1472: Ryan’s Law has now passed through both houses of the legislature without a single no vote in the process. The bill is now headed back to the Senate for a concurrence vote and then off to the Governor’s desk. As the perils of reckless driving and excessive speed become more and more evident, this bill’s passage comes as no surprise.

According to LAPD data, in the first half of 2021, there were 500 reported sideshows in the city of Los Angeles, an increase of 205 sideshows compared to the same time last year. The California Highway Patrol also reports that street racing and sideshows have caused 264 crashes statewide in the past five years. Of those crashes, 30 have been fatal and 124 have resulted in serious injuries.

The bill will not bring back those we love who have been killed by street racers, side-showoffs and extreme speeders,” Stern said. “But as a Legislature, we’re saying, it’s time DAs prosecute this kind of driving as the reckless and deadly conduct it is. No matter how high paid your defense lawyer is, no driver who takes another’s life while street racing, doing donuts in intersections, or driving over 100 mph on our city streets, should be able to avoid criminal prosecution.”

The bill, named after Ryan Koeppel, a young man struck and killed by a repeat reckless driver, seeks justice for the countless victims of fatal crashes that result from excessive speeding, street racing and side-shows. SB 1472 explicitly gives prosecutors the ability to charge a driver with a felony for participating in excessive speeding, sideshows, or street racing that result in a fatality.