Jennifer Levi addresses the media during a press conference at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on Feb. 12, 2026. Levi recounted how her son, Braun Levi, was killed by a drunk driver in May of 2025. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law four bills aimed at curbing a startling rise in DUI fatalities in recent years, including measures that make it easier to charge repeat drunk drivers with a felony and, if they kill someone, with murder.
The legislation follows a CalMatters series that revealed the state was unable — or unwilling — to get dangerous drivers off the road before it was too late. Many kept driving recklessly even after killing someone, and some even killed again.
The bills were the last ones standing from an initial package of 17 aimed at addressing traffic deaths. Most failed in the face of fierce opposition from progressive groups that argued increasing enforcement and penalties will disproportionately harm low-income and historically marginalized residents and are not the best way to address traffic safety.
While some of the bills that passed were pared back during the legislative process, the new laws still…
