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March 17th, 2015
Assembly member Mike Gatto
State Capitol, Room 3152,
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 8 (Gatto): Emergency services: hit and run incidents: Support
Dear Assembly member Gatto,
The California Bicycle Coalition enables more people to bicycle for healthier,
safer, and more prosperous communities for all. We represent California’s bicycling community, from the “grass
tops” of sixteen professionally-staffed local advocacy organizations to the grassroots of 30,000 dues-paying
members. We organize clubs, bike shops, local governments, local leaders, and individuals who seek to make their
communities better places to bicycle.
I am writing to express our support for AB 8 which utilizes the state’s network of changeable message signs to
notify the public when a hit-and-run resulting in a death or serious bodily injury has occurred and provide
information about the vehicle or suspect involved, helping law enforcement officers apprehend a hit-and-run
offender. This is a vital step to end the culture of normalization of hit-and-runs in California.
Often, eyewitnesses to hit-and-runs are able to provide significant information about the make, model, and license
plate number of the fleeing vehicle. Unfortunately, by the time this information reaches the public the offender may
be impossible to find. As a result, less than half of all hit-and-run offenders are apprehended, and in Los Angeles
where a large portion of our members live, and where there is a boom in bicycle riding, the arrest rate for fatal hitand-runs is only 20%. These dismal statistics perpetuate a culture of fleeing the scene of an accident in part because
it will rarely result in consequences. As a result, there are nearly 20,000 hit and runs in the county of LA alone.
The “Yellow Alert” system AB 8 would implement is a simple proven effective solution to allow descriptive
information about a vehicle involved in a hit-and-run to reach the public, and law enforcement, in a timely and
effective manner. Since implementing a similar alert system in 2012, authorities in Denver, Colorado have improved
their hit-and-run arrest rate to 76% -- it was so effective that the system was expanded into a statewide program.
Implementing a system like AB 8 will help cut down on the epidemic of hit-and-runs in California.
The California Bicycle Coalition strongly supports AB 8.
Sincerely,
Dave Snyder
Executive Director
California Bicycle Coalition
1017 L Street, #288
Sacramento, CA 95814