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Compounding layers of leniency in California laws are allowing drivers charged with vehicular manslaughter to walk away with clean criminal and driving records, prompting calls for reform from victims’ families.
Allison Lyman, who is looking for accountability for the crash that killed her son last year, believes soft-on-crime laws passed under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s tenure have weakened accountability for road deaths, amounting to what she described as “negligence.”
“You know, our hunch is this was all happening during ‘soft on crime,’ ‘let’s clear the jails,’” Lyman said of California’s laws.
“And the consequence now is us — with these drivers right back on our roads.”
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, pictured alongside Connor Lopez, right, the son of Allison Lyman who was killed in a car accident on April 23, 2025. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images; Allison Lyman)
Lyman’s son, Connor Lopez, was killed in a collision on April 23, 2025, when Harkit Kaur, a 50-year-old woman, turned into a clear view of incoming traffic and blocked the path of Lopez’s motorcycle, according to eyewitnesses to the accident.
Kaur did not show signs of intoxication after taking a standardized field sobriety test, police reports indicate. Digital reached out to Kaur’s legal representation.
After the accident, Lyman was shocked to hear the death was considered a “misdemeanor” under California laws dealing with non-violent crimes — something amounting to less than a shoplifting crime. But her shock only grew when she was told Kaur could soon have the accident wiped entirely from her record through a law Newsom approved in 2020.
“I won’t ever forget the day I sat in front of the DA. He said something about a ‘diversion program.’ And then we learned: Governor Newsom signed AB 3234 into law,” Layman explained.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom takes questions from the media after announcing the state is suing the White House to restore SNAP funding before the cutoff during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. (REUTERS/Fred Greaves)
That law expanded judges’ authority to grant pretrial dismissal in some misdemeanor cases, allowing charges to be completely dismissed if defendants complete court-ordered programs and “would deem the arrest upon which diversion was imposed to have never occurred.”
The law can apply to more than just traffic violations.
“And then the charge is dismissed. It is erased,” Lyman said. “The driver that killed Connor has never lost her license. I’ve seen her driving,” Lyman said.
Lyman noted that Kaur hasn’t yet officially received a diversion ruling and will receive a final sentencing ruling next week.
Coupled with other Newsom-approved laws, Lyman said courts are specifically told to consider diversion ahead of possible jail sentences.
“I zoomed in for a woman whose husband was killed in Sacramento. It’s a misdemeanor. She has the same judge as Connor. And the judge was talking about making his decision and cited this code that I had never heard of — 17.2. And it was another law passed in 2023 that essentially tells judges to consider everything, including diversion, before jail,” Lyman said.
Newsom approved 17.2 through AB 2167 — a law that requires “a court to consider alternatives to incarceration including collaborative justice court programs, diversion, restorative justice and probation.”
In the wake of her son’s death, now one year ago, Lyman is working with state lawmakers to advocate for SB 953 — a law that would require all vehicular manslaughter to be reported to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
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The California state capitol building in Sacramento on National Urban League California Legislative Advocacy Day on March 13, 2024. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for National Urban League)
Sen. Roger Niello, R-Calif., the bill’s sponsor, explained his legislation would put two points on the defendant’s driving record, regardless of diversion.
“Under current laws, a speeding ticket can now have a greater reflection on a driver’s record than killing somebody with a car. A diversion does not change the fact that a fatality occurred,” Niello said at a press event earlier this week.
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“The DMV cannot do its job of determining who poses a risk and who does not.”
SB 953 advanced unanimously out of committee on Tuesday.
Digital reached out to Newsom’s office.
