Streets Are For Everyone 2025 Legislative Agenda
Thanks to everyone’s support, SAFE has expanded its legislative work to make roads safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers and to advocate for more transit-friendly cities.
The heart of this work is a team of 5 staff and interns working hard to make this happen.
The team is led by me, Kristen Weiss, SAFE’s Policy and Legislation Coordinator.
Kristen Weiss, SAFE’s Policy and Legislation Coordinator.
Dave Owen is a retired Lawyer, avid cyclist, and future member of SAFE’s Legislation Advisory Board.
Alexander Park holds a BA in History, Political Science, and Education from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MPA from the University of Southern California.
Celia Powers is an economics and political science student at UCLA with a strong background in communications and journalism.
Andre Kfouri is a second-year Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies student at UCLA.
With the new California Legislative term beginning last month, this team has been working on more bills than in any previous year. SAFE is co-sponsoring, supporting, opposing, or requesting amendments on 40 bills and watching another 10. This breaks down to:
Co-sponsoring four bills
Supporting 27 bills
Requesting amendments to six bills
Opposing three bills
Below summarizes all the bills SAFE is working on. The priority bills for SAFE are also noted below.
AB 891
Quick-Build Project Pilot Program.
Stance: Co-Sponsor (Priority)
AB 891 establishes the Quick-Build Project Pilot Program within the department's maintenance program to accelerate low-cost projects on the state highway system and fund at least six projects by December 31, 2028.
SB 455
Electric motorcycles and electric
bicycles.
Stance: Co-Sponsor (Priority)
SB 455 improves labeling requirements for electric bicycles, e-mopeds, etc. It prohibits labeling 2-wheeled electric vehicles as electric bicycles if they can reach a speed exceeding 28 miles per hour. It also mandates customer notifications for products that no longer meet the electric bicycle definition, with violations subject to criminal penalties.
SB 720
Automated traffic enforcement system programs.
Stance: Co-Sponsor (Priority)
SB 720 would establish a new opt-in red light camera program with $100 civil fines (not moving violations) to the owners of vehicles that run red lights. There are stricter privacy equity provisions, solving many reasons why most cities don’t use the current red light camera law.
AB 954
State transportation improvement
program: bicycle highway pilot program.
Stance: Co-Sponsor (Priority)
This bill would create a bicycle highway pilot program to test its feasibility in two yet-to-be-named major metropolitan areas. Bicycle highways are networks restricted to bicyclists intended for trips primarily at least 5 miles in length at travel speeds of up to 25 miles per hour.
AB 390
Vehicles: highway safety.
Stance: Support (Priority)
AB 390 would extend California's existing "move over or slow down" law to include all stationary vehicles displaying hazard lights or other warning indicators.
AB 486
Vehicles: sideshows and street takeovers.
Stance: Support (Priority)
AB 486 would clarify ambiguous language related to aiding and abetting, including organizing, facilitating, promoting, or instigating, even if the person is not physically present.
AB 981
Vehicles: active intelligent speed assist devices.
Stance: Support (Priority)
AB 981 would require a person convicted of driving offenses related to excessive speed, reckless driving, and exhibition of speed to install an intelligent speed assist device.
AB 366
Ignition interlock devices.
Stance: Support (Priority)
AB 366 would require that for a person’s first criminal conviction of driving under the influence, they must install an Ignition Interlock Device as well as additional provisions that restrict drivers who are convicted of a DUI.
AB 71
Ignition interlock devices.
Stance: Support (Priority)
AB 71 has the same provisions as AB 366; however, it looks to extend the provisions until 2033 rather than indefinitely.
SB 671
Pedestrian crossing signals.
Stance: Support (Priority)
SB 671 would mandate that pedestrian signals must have an Accessible Pedestrian Signal (APS) that communicates information about “WALK” and “DON’T WALK” intervals in nonvisual formats such as audible tones, speech messages, and vibrotactile surfaces for pedestrians who may have blind or low vision. The bill also requires the installation of technology that can detect bicycle and motorcycle traffic, ensuring that these vehicles are correctly detected.
SB 358
Mitigation Fee Act: mitigating vehicular traffic impacts.
Stance: Support
SB 358 would lower the traffic mitigation fee costs of building housing developments that are transit-oriented, pedestrian-friendly or reduce car dependency by 50%.
SB 445
Sustainable Transportation Project Permits and Cooperative Agreements.
Stance: Support
SB 445 requires a lead agency to notify third-party entities about sustainable transportation projects, mandates timely responses and cooperative agreements, and restricts the conditions these entities can impose on the projects.
SB 545
High-speed rail: economic opportunities.
Stance: Support
SB 545 would require the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to commission a study on economic opportunities along the high-speed rail alignment and that any revenues collected beyond the establishment of an infrastructure district be committed to the ongoing maintenance and operation of the high-speed rail system.
SB 584
Pupil instruction: civic engagement.
Stance: Support
SB 584 would require school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to implement a Civic Engagement Pathway Program for pupils in grades 1 to 6 and that for grades 7 to 12 should offer several social sciences, world language, science, and other courses including automobile driver education to develop students knowledge of the Vehicle Code and other laws, and the consquences of traffic collisions and importance of safe driving manuveurs.
AB 545
Vehicles: electric bicycles.
Stance: Support
AB 545 would prohibit a person from selling an application that can modify the speed capability of an electric bicycle, and that this new prohibition and violation of which is an infraction would impose a state-mandated local
SB 586
Off-highway motor vehicles: eMotos.
Stance: Support
AB 586 would define the term “eMoto” as an electric two-wheeled device built on a bicycle infrastructure and that eMotos would then be classified as an off-highway motor vehicle, thereby subjecting eMotos to the rules and regulations relating to off-highway motor vehicles, including requiring eMotos to be subject to identification.
SB 664
Vehicles: Blue Envelope Program.
Stance: Support
SB 664 requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to implement a Blue Envelope Program for drivers with disabilities, providing an envelope with traffic stop safety tips, officer recommendations, emergency contact information, and space for additional notes or accommodations, along with the driver's license, vehicle registration, and insurance card.
SB 79
Transit-Oriented Development regulative support
Stance: Support
SB 79 allows developments within a quarter mile of a major transit stop to be exempt from certain height, zoning, density, and CEQA requirements. Further, it divides "transit stops" into three tiers, giving more leeway to transit stops with better service.
AB 1085
Fines on illegal license plate covers
Stance: Support
AB 1085 seeks to impose a $10,000 per day penalty on manufacturers and retailers who sell illegal license plate covers to curb the use of covers that prevent toll collection and enable hit-and-runs without the ability to identify the perpetrator.
AB 1014
Traffic safety: speed limits.
Stance: Support
AB 1014 expands the DOT's authority to lower or maintain speed limits on state highways, allowing for adjustments based on the 85th-percentile speed and enabling further reductions in safety corridors or areas with high concentrations of vulnerable road users, including the option to set 25 or 20 mph speed limits in business activity districts.
AB 1132
Department of Transportation: Climate change vulnerability assessment: community resilience assessment
Stance: Support
AB 1132 requires the Department of Transportation to conduct community resilience assessments and evaluations of broad social and economic impacts of climate-related threats to important transportation infrastructure by January 1, 2028. The bill also requires at least one public workshop including individuals from priority populations, representatives from local jurisdiction, and two public stakeholder
AB 289
State highway work zone speed safety program.
Stance: Support
AB 289 would authorize the Department of Transportation to implement a speed enforcement program using up to 125 speed safety systems in state highway construction or maintenance areas until January 1, 2032
AB 314
California Environmental Quality Act: major transit stop.
Stance: Support
AB 314 would define a "major transit stop" to include a planned or existing high-speed rail station, an existing rail or bus rapid station, a ferry terminal served by bus or rail, and the intersection of two or more major bus routes with frequent service.
AB 382
Pedestrian safety: school zones.
Stance: Support
AB 382 would establish a prima facie speed limit of 20mph in school zones when certain conditions are met, creating state-mandated local programs, providing that the state will cover costs for these programs, and authorizing local authorities to lower this limit based on engineering and traffic surveys.
AB 39
Local Electrification Planning Act
Stance: Support
AB 39, also known as the Local Electrification Planning Act, will require each city and county to adopt a specified plan or to integrate a previously established plan that includes locally based goals, policies, and plans for implementation that expand electrification in transportation and public utilities.
AB 435
Vehicles: child passenger restraints
Stance: Support
AB 435 would require several provisions regarding child passenger restraints such as that a child under 10 years of age on a highway in a motor vehicle must be properly secured in a rear seat in an appropriate child passenger restraint system or that a child between 13 to 16 years of age is prohibited to sit in the front seat of a vehicle unless they are acceptably restrained by a safety belt by meeting the requirements of the 5-Step test.
AB 480
Autonomous vehicles
Stance: Support
AB 480 would require an autonomous vehicle to be equipped with automated driving system (ADS) marker lamps when an ADS is engaged in the vehicle's operation.
SB 71
California Environmental Quality Act: exemptions: transit projects.
Stance: Support
SB 71 extends certain CEQA exemptions for transportation-related projects, including those for active transportation, transit route modifications, and zero-emission vehicle infrastructure.
AB 855
Vehicles: commercial electric vehicle safety.
Stance: Support
AB 855 would require the Office of Emergency Services, on or before January 1, 2027, to develop and post on its website an action plan for responding to electric commercial motor vehicle battery fires that would ensure the safety of commercial drivers, first responders, other motorists, pedestrians, and surrounding communities, preventing structural damage to bridges and overpasses, and minimizing the duration of roadway closures.
AB 861
Promote LA Metro through Student Ambassadors in Los Angeles Community College District
Stance: Support
AB 861 would provide community college students with free transit passes and establish
a student ambassador program with LA Metro.
AB 968
Electric bicycles: disclosure.
Stance: Support
AB 968 would require manufacturers to include a notice in the electric bicycle’s packaging that informs parents of minor riders of the risks and responsibilities associated with operating an electric bicycle.
AB 968
Vehicle removal.
Stance: Requesting Amendments (Priority)
AB 875 would authorize a peace officer to remove a bicycle operated by a person under 16 years of age who is operating a class 3 electric bicycle or is operating, or riding upon, a class 3 electric bicycle without a helmet, as specified. This bill would also authorize a person to remove an electric bicycle operated on the highway capable of speeds greater than any speed permitted for an electric bicycle. SAFE would want an amendment to the actual wording of the proposed amendment to mirror Vehicle Code § 312.5.
AB 1281
Vehicles: leaving the scene of an accident.
Stance: Requesting Amendments
AB 1281 seeks to amend Vehicle Code Section 20001 to mandate a 15-year prison sentence for any driver involved in a crash resulting in death or great bodily injury who violates the stopping requirement and create a mandatory 15-year minimum sentence for any driver involved in a crash involving death or severe bodily injury.
AB 525
Basic Inspection of Terminals program: agricultural vehicles.
Stance: Requesting Amendments
AB 525 would indefinitely exclude agricultural vehicles from the BIT program and delete the provision that the DMV should report to the Governor and Legislature about the impact of excluding agricultural vehicles from the BIT program.
AB 544
Electric bicycles: required equipment.
Stance: Requesting Amendments
AB 544 would require an electric bicycle during all hours to be equipped with a red reflector or a solid or flashing red light with a built-in reflector on the rear that is visible from a distance of 500 feet.
AB 612
Transportation: Highway Design Manual: emergency response times
Stance: Requesting Amendments
AB 612 would require the department to update the Highway Design Manual on or before January 1, 2026, and direct local governments to consult with local fire departments when making road improvements to ensure the upgrades do not negatively impact emergency response times.
AB 658
Vehicles: registration fees.
Stance: Requesting Amendments
AB 658 requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to complete and publish an affordability impact analysis, average increase in annual vehicle registration costs over the past 5 years, on its website in the event of an increase in the cost of registration fees for vehicles or trailer coaches.
AB 1022
Authority to remove vehicles
Stance: Oppose
AB 1022 would remove the authority of peace officers and certain public employees to tow or immobilize vehicles based on multiple, five or more, unpaid parking or traffic violations.
AB 273
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: high-speed rail: infrastructure improvements.
Stance: Oppose
AB 273 removes the California High-Speed Rail allocation and redirects 25% of the funds from the cap-and-trade program to the state's general fund.
AB 983
Vehicles: removal and impoundment.
Stance: Oppose
AB 983 would authorize peace officers to alternatively establish reasonable cause to believe that a vehicle was used in violation of the above-described offenses, outside of their presence, if they provide evidence recorded by specified speed safety systems and would add driving over 100 mph to the list of crimes/offenses which would warrant impounding the vehicle.
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