BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — With lots of DUI arrests in Kern County every year, a new California law is trying to reduce that number by starting with schools. New California law aims to reduce DUI arrests by enhancing alcohol education in schools.
- Amber Morales, a mother who lost her children to a drunk driver, supports the new law.
- Assembly Bill 2865 signed by Governor Gavin Newsom by former Los Angles Democratic Assembly member Wendy Carrillo mandates schools to educate students on the long-term harms of excessive drinking.
- Kern County sees around 4,000 DUI arrests annually, with numbers remaining constant.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Amber Morales, "My kids know that there is not a day that goes by that I don't think of them or that I don't fight for them in some way."
Morales is a mother of 5 she tells me one call from her sister-in-law changed her and her family's life on March 25, 2018.
Morales, "My sister-in-law told me that there had been a crash."
Her ex-husband, 14-year-old daughter Madyson, and 19-year-old son Kaleb were killed on Highway 43 by a drunk driver in northern Kern.
Her 17-year-old son, Ethan, survived.
He's now 23 and still lives with the painful memories of that night.
Now Morales shares her story as she works with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to increase awareness and is looking forward to the implementation of Assembly Bill 2865.
Morales, "They make sure that the education is there already but now this law adds more so that hopefully others will follow since it is such an epidemic in the schools."
California schools already provide instruction about alcohol, narcotics, and other dangerous drugs.
Assembly Bill 2865 would require that students grade six through 12 are provided instruction about the short- and long-term harms of excessive drinking — including alcohol's link to chronic diseases, mental health problems, and deaths.
Matt Clark explains, "The fact that we are one of the most dangerous communities in California to driving period. The reason for that is that you are more likely to get hit in Kern County by a drunk driver than any county in the state."
Clark is a local attorney who says that in Kern County we average about 4,000 DUI arrests year after year.
Clark adds, "What's bad is that we are not seeing these numbers improve just year over year."
I ask Morales,"For parents who may be watching this what do you want them to get out of this story?"
Morales answered, "That you know it's ok to implement the changes now if you know you been so lenient or even now more so or you know just educating, like I said being open to the information and what Mothers Against Drunk Driving has to offer."
Mothers Against Drunk Driving tells me that there are courses and lessons through them to educate your child on how to prevent drunk driving.
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