We Went to Sacramento Because Enough Is Enough

Julie Nicholson is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets chapter and is an educator and mother of three children

On January 4, 2020, I was running in a San Francisco park when a speeding driver ran a red light, hit me head-on, and threw me 20 feet through the air.

I broke my neck and my back.

I still remember lying in the emergency room listening to doctors discuss whether I would survive.

I was one of the lucky ones.

After eight months, I recovered. Many families never get that outcome.

Last week, I traveled to Sacramento with twenty other crash survivors, family members who lost loved ones, and advocates to support the Stop Super Speeders bill (Assembly Bill 2276, previous coverage). Together, we held more than 30 meetings with legislators and staff to talk about something that should unite all Californians: preventing deadly speeding before another family is shattered forever.

We were not there as professional lobbyists. We were there as people carrying grief, trauma, and urgency into the halls of power.

Some of us lost children. Some lost spouses, parents, or siblings. Some survived catastrophic crashes themselves. Every one of us understands the devastating consequences of speeding in a deeply personal way.

That is why we came to Sacramento.

Because enough is enough.

The urgency of this moment has become impossible to ignore, especially after CalMatters published its powerful “License to Kill” investigation documenting how dangerous drivers repeatedly remain on California roads despite extensive records of reckless behavior.

Survivors and families already knew this reality firsthand. The series confirmed what we have experienced for years: preventable traffic violence continues because the system too often fails to intervene before tragedy happens.

Speeding is one of the leading behavioral factors in deadly crashes, and a relatively small group of extreme and repeat speeders disproportionately cause the most severe harm.

Yet California still relies heavily on fines and license suspensions that too often fail to stop the most dangerous drivers before someone is killed.

AB 2276 offers a different approach focused on prevention.

The bill would require active Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) technology for the most dangerous repeat speeding offenders. The technology prevents drivers from excessively speeding by automatically limiting vehicles to the legal speed limit.

Importantly, this is not aimed at ordinary drivers making occasional mistakes. It is targeted. It is court-ordered. It focuses specifically on the highest-risk repeat offenders whose behavior repeatedly puts others at risk.

And there is strong evidence that it works. In New York City, municipal fleet drivers using ISA stayed at or below the speed limit 99% of the time. 

During our advocacy day, we stood beside lawmakers who understand the urgency of this crisis. Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria and Senator Henry Stern joined survivors and families in support of AB 2276.

One moment especially stayed with me.

“We can’t wait… our families are hurting! People die on these streets every single day,” Senator Stern said during the event. “Right in front of my house.”

He is right. We cannot wait.

Every day we delay action, more families receive the phone call that changes their lives forever.

Too often, traffic safety debates get reduced to political talking points about inconvenience or government overreach. Meanwhile, survivors are rebuilding shattered bodies. Parents are burying children. Communities are losing neighbors to preventable violence on our streets.

What feels extreme to me is allowing the same reckless drivers to repeatedly engage in deadly speeding behavior without meaningful intervention until someone dies.

What gave me hope in Sacramento was seeing survivors refuse to stay silent.

Traffic violence can be profoundly isolating. After a crash, your world becomes smaller. Grief and trauma consume everyday life. Many survivors feel invisible in a transportation system that too often prioritizes vehicle speed over human life.

But in those meetings, our stories mattered.

I saw lawmakers and staff members lean in. I saw genuine engagement. I saw recognition that traffic violence is not inevitable — it is preventable.

Twenty people.

Thirty meetings.

One shared message: enough.

We went to Sacramento because we do not want another mother, another runner, another child trying to cross the street to endure what our families have endured.

California has the opportunity to lead and save lives.

For survivors like me, this is not theoretical policy.

It is personal.