North County Times: ‘There Oughtta Be A Law’
Share this pageAs dysfunctional and politically petty as Sacramento is, it’s hard to imagine an average citizen having any influence on state law.
But that’s what happened with a Northern California tow truck driver a while back.
Daniel Frederick Leon of Hayward got tired of seeing cars zip by him while working accident scenes or aiding stranded motorists on busy highways. And he decided to enter a lawmaker’s “There Oughta Be A Law” contest in 2005.
Leon told Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, there ought to be a law requiring drivers to slow down when they approach tow trucks and emergency vehicles that are parked along the side of the road with their flashing lights on.
By 2006, slowing down had become much more than suggested courtesy; it had become the law. The law also says motorists driving multiple-lane highways should change lanes, if they are able to do so safely, to leave extra room between their cars and the emergency vehicles.
Simitian’s legislation, Senate Bill 1610, was a temporary experiment due to expire Jan. 1, 2010. But a review by the California Highway Patrol found that deaths and injuries to emergency workers statewide have declined since the law’s passage.
As a result, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger just signed follow-up legislation, Senate Bill 159, to make the rule permanent.
Full article on the North County Times website