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CALIFORNIA PASSES SAFE DRIVING ACT MODELED AFTER MISSOURI'S LAW:

The new law effective January 1, 2001 is called the Brandi Mitock Safe Drivers Act.

Its 15-year-old namesake was killed in a crosswalk in November 1998 by a 96-year-old driver with a history of strokes.

The law addresses drivers with impairments of the ability to drive safely and allows any interested party to provide input to the Department of Motor Vehicles. It requires the DMV to determine a driver's ability to drive and hold a license. The DMV can suspend, revoke or restrict the license. The decision can be reexamined by a request of the driver, or a report from a local health official. The law can also restrict a license to any individual who has corrected vision of 20/200 or worse.

Like the Missouri statute, reports to the DMV are based on personal observation or physical evidence that the driver in question has an impairment to safely operate a motor vehicle. Also similar to the Missouri law, there is no age bias drawn into the law, and there is immunity from prosecution for the reporting party as long as the report was made in good faith. The California law also requires the DMV to establish a task force to analyze potential sources of funding and modes of transportation for persons who have lost their license for failure to pass a visual test or a written or road test.

CARD assisted Marijane and Mark Mitock (Brandi's parents) in their efforts to get the law through the legal process. CARD founder, Sheldon Suroff, Mr. Mitock and Sen. Hayden appeared on a Los Angeles radio talk show espousing the need for a new driving law, and helped the Mitocks in letter writing campaigns to the Governor and state legislators.