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Articles by Robert Lewis
Billionaire tax
What's next: If passed, the measure would direct 90% of the tax revenue to fund healthcare services and the other 10% to food assistance and public education across California. Why it matters: A major rift between proponents and opponents is whether the tax would drive billionaires out of California. Why now: Voters in November will be asked whether to pass the ballot measure, known as Proposition 40, which imposes a one-time 5% tax on the assets of the nearly 250 billionaires in the state.
DUI reform
Why it matters: The bill would have required in-car breathalyzers for anyone convicted of a DUI, bringing California in line with most states. State law currently only requires the devices, called ignition interlock devices, after repeat offenses or injury crashes. A California Senate committee just gutted one of the state’s most substantial DUI reform bills in years, despite widespread support from other lawmakers and families of drunk driving victims.
After his crash killed a child, the DMV renewed his license
Placer County prosecutors wanted any information the California Department of Motor Vehicles had on a man who drove a pickup truck into the back of a sedan in late 2022, killing a toddler. They learned that the DMV renewed his license barely a year after the DA's office filed charges. Did the DMV do some sort of review before deciding it was safe to let him stay on the road? The department spent close to a year fighting to keep the answer to that a secret.
DUI crackdown
Anatoly Varfolomeev addresses the media at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento where lawmakers announced a series of bills aimed at reducing DUI fatalities and injuries in the state. Read on... for what the proposed changes would do. Why it matters: California saw a more than 50% spike in DUI-related deaths over the most recent 10 years for which federal estimates were available, an increase more than twice as steep as the rest of the country.
CA roadway deaths
Steve Gordon, left, who was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to head the California Department of Motor Vehicles, discusses a report detailing efforts to improve customer services. Lawmakers say next session could bring change: A number of lawmakers said they are aware of the carnage on our roadways and plan to do something about it this coming legislative session, maybe.
California’s failure to take repeat drunk drivers off the road
With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today . This is the third piece in series about how California lets dangerous drivers stay on the road. . Sign up for CalMatters’ License to Kill newsletter to be notified when the next story comes out, and to get more behind-the-scenes information from CalMatters reporting.
Motorcyclist arrested on firearms charges after crash in Capitola
A motorcycle crash in Capitola on Saturday led police to arrest its rider for carrying a loaded handgun, police said. The collision happened at 2:10 p.m. near the Capitola Mall entrance on 41st Avenue. A Harley Davidson motorcycle carrying two people was driving south on 41st Avenue when it collided with a Nissan Rogue carrying two people.
7 takeaways: How the California DMV allows dangerous drivers to stay on the road Original
Ervin Wyatt’s history behind the wheel spreads across two pages of a recent court filing: Fleeing police. Fleeing police again. Running a red light. Causing a traffic collision. Driving without a license, four times. A dozen speeding tickets. Yet the California Department of Motor Vehicles issued him a license in 2019. Wyatt promptly got three more speeding tickets, court records show.
They killed behind the wheel. The DMV gave them their licenses back.
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Ivan Dimov was convicted of reckless driving in 2013, after fleeing police in Washington state while his passenger allegedly dumped heroin out the window. Before that, he got six DUIs in California over a six-year period. None of that would keep him off the road. The California Department of Motor Vehicles reissued him a driver’s license in 2017.
They killed behind the wheel. The DMV gave them their licenses back. Original
Between March 2017 and March 2022, Trevor Cook received two citations for running red lights, got two speeding tickets and was deemed responsible for two collisions, including one in which someone was injured, court records show. (A third red-light ticket was dismissed.) At-fault collisions add a point to a driver’s license, according to the DMV. But the incidents were spaced out enough that none resulted in a suspension.
License to kill: Investigation into California DMV reveals glaring problems Original
The California DMV routinely allows dangerous drivers with horrifying histories to continue to operate on our roadways. Too often they go on to kill. Many keep driving even after they kill. Some go on Robert Lewis CalMatters This story was originally published byCalMatters.Sign up for their newsletters.
7 takeaways: How the California DMV allows dangerous drivers to stay on the road
Ervin Wyatt’s history behind the wheel spreads across two pages of a recent court filing: Fleeing police. Fleeing police again. Running a red light. Causing a traffic collision. Driving without a license, four times. A dozen speeding tickets. Yet the California Department of Motor Vehicles issued him a license in 2019. Wyatt promptly got three more speeding tickets, court records show.
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