Silver Lake, CA - My son was the victim of a hit and run accident, then a victim of the repair shop that where the waiting pickup truck took his car. CA Assembly Representative Mike Gatto is working to bring more justice to an area where some motorists slip through the cracks. —b.h. 

Hit-and-Run Legislation Clears Final Committee in the Wake of Recent Tragedies

Bill by Mike Gatto would extend the statute of limitations for hit-and-run offenders, bringing time, and hope, to injured victims.

Sacramento, CA – Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) bill to address the epidemic of hit-and-run offenses in California cleared a key legislative hurdle today, passing the Senate Appropriations Committee by a 7-0 vote.  The legislation, AB 184, provides an additional tool to law-enforcement officers investigating hit-and-run offenses by extending the current three-year statute of limitations for such offenses to six years from the date of the offense.

“AB 184 will allow victims of hit-and-runs and law enforcement to obtain justice from cowards who do everything possible to avoid responsibility for their actions,” said Gatto.  “Thousands of hit-and-run victims suffer life-threatening injuries annually.  Allowing the perpetrators to avoid prosecution just adds insult to these injuries.”

The committee’s decision comes just days after yet another deadly series of hit-and-runs in California.  In the past three weeks, incidents took the lives of seven people in the City of Los Angeles and another five in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.  Victims include a 3-year-old, several college students, and two elderly men.  In the Sacramento region, recent hit-and-runs have taken the lives of two people, and a 70-year-old motorcyclist and his wife narrowly escaped last weekend after being rear-ended.  And in San Jose, Bipin Patel was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle to work, leaving his wife and three children without answers about the person responsible for Patel’s death.

“We wish no harm to the person who did this, we just hope they can accept responsibility and bring us some closure,” Patel’s daughter Chandni told NBC Bay Area.

In addition to the recent deaths, many older hit-and-runs around the state remain unsolved, even after months of investigation.  Damian Kevitt was struck by a mini-van while on his bicycle in February and dragged more than a quarter-mile down the Interstate 5 freeway in Los Angeles.  The collision resulted in dozens of broken bones and the amputation of one of Kevitt’s legs.  Kevitt recently began learning how to pedal a bicycle with his new prosthetic leg, while the suspect who hit him remains at large.

“It's hard for us to encourage people to bike and walk, when our streets are treated like the Wild West,” said Eric Bruins, Planning & Policy Director for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.  “The LA County Bicycle Coalition commends Assemblyman Gatto for bringing attention to this issue and giving hit-and-run victims hope that their perpetrators might be brought to justice once identified.”

Currently, motorists who flee the scene of an accident can simply "run out the clock" and avoid all criminal liability for seriously injuring or even killing another individual in a hit-and-run.  AB 184, provides a significant boost to law-enforcement officers investigating hit-and-run offenses.  The Legislature has passed similar changes to statutes of limitations for crimes with hard-to-identify perpetrators, like clergy abuse.

“Hit-and-run victims deserve justice,” said Gatto.  “And Californians need to know that their elected officials are taking meaningful action to address the epidemic of hit-and-run offenses.”

AB 184 now heads to the Senate floor for consideration by the full chamber.

Mike Gatto is the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the California State Assembly. He represents Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Atwater Village, East Hollywood, Franklin Hills, Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, and Silver Lake. www.asm.ca.gov/gatto