We Save Lives is encouraging everyone in California to Act Now and contact Governor Newsom and urge him to veto AB 3234. Protect yourself and your loved ones and hold drunk drivers accountable!

The Honorable Gavin Newsome
Governor
State of California
1303 10th Street, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone 916-445-2841

September 18, 2020

The Honorable Gavin Newsom
Governor
State of California
1303 10th Street, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Governor Newsom,

As organizations with impact on the local, state and national levels, committed to preventing injury and death from impaired driving and creating safer communities for all, we are writing to respectfully request that you veto AB 3234.

If signed into law, AB 3234 will threaten public safety, allowing the record of impaired drivers to be erased and making a subsequent offense, a first offense. Research tell us that one-third of all convicted DUI offenders will reoffend.

Our organizations have joined together because we recognize the devastating consequences AB 3234 will have on public safety in California. We have been on the front lines working to reduce fatalities and injuries from impaired driving for years and we fear that progress will be jeopardized by this legislation.

The record of impaired driving offenses by an individual is critical to helping stop what can often be a cycle of re-offending.

According to the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, California is above the national average for impaired driving fatalities. In California, DUI fatalities have increased 8% over 10 years as national DUI deaths fell 8%. California’s DUI deaths are moving in the wrong direction, and driving impaired by multiple substances is an ever-increasing problem with a high crash risk. Please veto this legislation.

Sincerely,

Steve Casstevens
Chief of Police
Buffalo Grove, IL
President, International Association of Chiefs of Police

Dr. Darrin Grondel
Vice President of Traffic Safety and Government Relations
Responsibility.org

Candace Lightner
President and Founder
We Save Lives

Lorraine Martin
President and CEO
National Safety Council

Erin Meluso
Recording Artists Against Drunk Driving (RADD)

Chris R. Swonger
President and CEO
Distilled Spirits Council of the United States

Brian Ursino
Assistant Chief
Washington State Patrol (Ret.)

Melissa Wandall
President
National Coalition for Safer Roads

David Kelly
Executive Director
Coalition of Interlock Manufacturers (CIIM)