Californians convicted of a third drunk-driving offense will lose their licenses for eight years, and those with four or more prior convictions face felony charges, under four bills Governor Gavin Newsom signed Friday, September 25. One bill is one named for Braun Levi, an 18-year-old tennis standout killed in Manhattan Beach.
The package includes Senate Bill 907, “Braun’s Law,” along with Assembly Bills 1546, 1685 and 1687. Together, the new laws increase penalties for repeat DUI offenses, strengthen consequences for hit-and-run crashes involving repeat offenders, add DMV points for certain convictions, and lengthen the period that repeat DUI offenders can lose their driving privileges.
Despite the celebratory nature of the bill-signing and announcement, there are several caveats to Friday’s news. The largest is that two pieces of legislation, AB 1685 and 1687 won’t go into effect until 2031.
Upon signing the package, Newsom issued an official signing message instructing the legislature to pass interim legislation that requires the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to adopt a centralized system for tracking DUI convictions. Newsom stated the state doesn’t have the technology to enforce AB 1685 or 1687 under the current system and believes the interim legislation could be passed next year to put a system that’s better than the current one for repeat offenders.
The legislative action followed a series of reports by Calmatters highlighting the state’s rising number of DUI’s and inability to get repeat DUI offenders off the road. Statistics on the state’s DUI crisis can be found at the bottom of this article.
All four pieces of legislation were supported by victim’s advocates, law enforcement organizations, and safety groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving; these groups plan to come back next year to take things further.
During the debate on each of these pieces of legislation there was opposition from groups such as the ACLU and more progressive legislators who argued that punitive legislation doesn’t address the root causes of drunk and impaired driving and will fall disproportionately on disadvantaged communities. They argued that further funding should be put into education campaigns, rehabilitation, and even greater access to transit or other transportation options.
Braun’s Law: SB 907
The centerpiece of the package is SB 907, authored by Senator Bob Archuleta (D-Norwalk). The bill is named for Braun Levi, an 18-year-old Loyola High School student and nationally ranked tennis player who was struck and killed by a suspected repeat drunk driver while walking in Manhattan Beach in May 2025.
Braun’s Law requires courts to inform those who “plead down” in DUI related offenses that future offenses could result in a second-degree murder charge. The bill also increases penalties for certain hit-and-run crashes involving injury or death when the driver has a recent history of DUI, reckless driving, or gross vehicular manslaughter.
Jennifer Levi, Braun’s mother, thanked Newsom and the lawmakers who worked on the legislation.
“Thank you to Governor Newsom and the First Partner for listening, taking action, and helping make our state safer by signing SB 907, including Braun’s Law,” Levi said.
“Having lost my granddaughter to a repeat drunk driver, this is personal,” Archuleta said in the Governor’s announcement about a separate crash. “No family should have to endure what mine has, or what has happened to the Levi family.”
Earlier drafts of the legislation included adding vehicular manslaughter and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated to the state’s list of “violent felonies,” which received strong pushback in the Senate Public Safety Committee. After pushback from Senators Scott Wiener (D-SF), Ana Caballero (D-Glendora), and Dave Cortese (D-Silicon Valley), this portion of the legislation was pulled.
AB 1546: Tougher penalties for repeat DUI convictions
Assembly Bill 1546, authored by Assemblymember Nick Schultz (D-Burbank), increases criminal penalties for people convicted of repeated DUI offenses within a 10-year period.
Under the new law, a DUI conviction following three prior qualifying DUI violations can be punished as a “wobbler,” meaning prosecutors can pursue either misdemeanor or felony charges. A fourth or subsequent qualifying violation within 10 years is punishable as a felony, with potential county jail sentences of 16 months, two years or three years.
Schultz, who chairs the Assembly Public Safety Committee, said the legislation responds to families who have lost loved ones to impaired driving.
“Over the course of the last year, we’ve heard heartbreaking testimony from families across California who have lost loved ones due to drunk driving,” Schultz said. “These are completely preventable deaths.”
AB 1685: More DMV points for fatal DUI crashes
Assembly Bill 1685, authored by Assemblymember Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale), changes how certain convictions affect a driver’s DMV record.
Beginning in 2031, the law will increase the number of violation points assigned to a driver’s record following a conviction for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and with gross negligence, from two points to three. The bill also expands the period during which the DMV can make certain conviction and crash records available for review.
Lackey, a former California Highway Patrol sergeant, said his experience responding to impaired-driving crashes shaped his support for the package.
“As a former California Highway Patrol sergeant, I have seen firsthand the heartbreak and devastation that impaired driving can leave behind,” Lackey said. “When someone makes the reckless decision to drive under the influence, the consequences can be irreversible.”
“These bills are about preventing those tragedies before they happen, and to keep impaired drivers off our roads,” he said.
Criminal reform organization Debt Free Justice California opposed every iteration of the legislation arguing that adding additional points to a license is a “duplicative penalty” to existing laws, doesn’t address the root causes of drunk driving in a meaningful way, and over-penalizes people of lesser income versus those who can afford and have access to other transportation.
“Further, receiving points on a driving record can have devastating consequences to low-income Californians and their families, including increased costs of insurance and even the loss of a driver’s license. The loss of a driver’s license is a major threat to economic security, particularly for low-income Californians and their families,” they wrote in testimony opposing the legislation.
AB 1687: Longer license revocations for repeat offenders
Assembly Bill 1687, also authored by Lackey, lengthens the period that California can revoke a driver’s license following repeated DUI convictions.
The law, known as Irene’s Law, named after a twelve year old girl killed by a repeat drunk driver, takes effect January 1, 2031. It requires the DMV to revoke the driving privilege of someone convicted of DUI causing bodily injury who also has four or more prior qualifying convictions within 10 years. The driving privilege cannot be reinstated for 72 months, and reinstatement is tied to requirements including maintaining a certified ignition interlock device for 72 months.
The legislation also changes the revocation period for a person convicted of a third DUI. The Governor’s Office says the package extends that period from three years to eight years.
Opponents to the legislation cited the eight-year license suspension as too long, noting the devastating impact it could have on families with lower incomes and lack of access to driving alternatives. This led to an amendment allowing repeat offenders to apply for renewal after four years if they have no other offenses and have added an interlock breathalyzer to their vehicle. They are still banned from operating any vehicle without this device.
Lackey said the measures reflect a bipartisan concern about preventing repeat offenders from causing additional deaths.
“We may come from different political parties, but protecting innocent lives and making sure every Californian has the chance to make it home safely is something we should all stand behind,” Lackey said.
DUIs in California
The legislation comes as California continues to see a substantial number of people killed and seriously injured in crashes involving alcohol.
California has made progress against alcohol-impaired driving, but the problem remains a major source of traffic deaths across the state.
According to the UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center’s latest Traffic Safety Facts, 1,355 people were killed in alcohol-impaired traffic crashes in California in 2023. That was a 4.5 percent decline from 2022, when 1,419 people were killed. Even after that decline, alcohol-impaired crashes accounted for 33 percent of all motor vehicle fatalities in California in 2023.
The problem is not limited to rural roads or freeways. Los Angeles County recorded 265 alcohol-impaired traffic deaths in 2023, the most of any California county. Riverside County had 115, San Bernardino County had 113, San Diego County had 93 and Orange County had 72.
Alcohol also shows up prominently in serious injury crashes. In 2023, driving or bicycling under the influence of alcohol or drugs was the primary crash factor in 76 percent of California’s alcohol-involved fatal and serious-injury crashes, according to provisional state crash data analyzed by SafeTREC. Improper turning accounted for 5.7 percent and unsafe speed for 5.6 percent.
According to the Governor’s Office, the California Highway Patrol has made more than 50,900 DUI arrests so far in 2026, along with conducting 75 sobriety checkpoints and 154 saturation patrols statewide. In July, CHP awarded more than $41 million in cannabis-tax-funded grants to 183 organizations for impaired-driving enforcement, public education, officer training and forensic testing.
