By Jorge Casuso

September 30, 2024 -- Governor Gavin Newsom last week put the brakes on a bill to require speed warning technology in new cars and green-lighted a bill allowing Downtown restaurants and bars to sell alcohol in specified zones.

Senate Bill 961, sponsored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), would have required that all new cars manufactured or sold in California beginning with 2030 models include passive intelligent speed assistance (ISA).

If signed by Newsom, California would have become the first state to require speed limit alarms and detectors on newly built cars.

“Today’s veto is a setback for street safety at a time Californians are feeling extremely unsafe,” Wiener said in a statement.

"California should have led on this crisis as Wisconsin did in passing the first seat belt mandate in 1961. Instead, this veto resigns Californians to a completely unnecessary risk of fatality."

The bill -- which "builds on similar requirements that went into effect in the European Union beginning in July" -- implements the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) recommendation to require ISA in all new passenger vehicles.

According to the 2023 Traffic Safety Report released by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), one-third of all traffic fatalities in the state between 2017 and 2021 were speeding-related, Wiener's office noted.

"Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, drivers have engaged in increasingly reckless behavior, putting themselves and others at risk," his office said.

The Governor's veto comes one month after the Santa Monica City Council voted to lower speed limits on 47 stretches of boulevards and major cross streets and near schools during school days ("New Speed Limits Pave Way for Cars, Scooters to Share Some Roads," September 4, 2024).

The new speed limits were approved as fatal and severe injury crashes involving cyclists and pedestrians in Santa Monica have increased in each of the past three years, despite major investments in traffic safety.

Wiener's bill to expand entertainment zones in an effort to enliven struggling downtowns met a far different fate.

Senate Bill 969 signed by Newsom "removes needless restrictions in state law" so local governments can designate “entertainment zones,” where restaurants and bars can sell alcoholic beverages, Wiener said.

Under the new law, cities "will be able to choose to tailor 'Entertainment Zones' to the individual needs of each locale and event," Wiener's office said.

"The COVID-19 pandemic devastated foot traffic to downtown businesses," his office said. Cities in California vary widely in their recovery trajectories, but few have yet reached the levels of foot traffic seen in 2019 in their downtowns.

“Getting people out in the streets to enjoy themselves is critical for communities across our state to bounce back from the pandemic,” Wiener said.

Similar programs to create “outdoor refreshment areas” have helped support small businesses and downtown districts in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia, according to Winer's office.