CA AB 1281
deadVehicles: leaving the scene of an accident.
California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · lower
Quick answers
Did CA AB 1281 pass?
No. CA AB 1281 did not pass — it was defeated or died in the legislative process (2026-01-13). Latest recorded action (2026-01-13): From committee: Without further action pursuant to Joint Rule 62(a).
What is CA AB 1281 about?
Existing law requires the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to a person, other than that driver, or in the death of a person, to immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident and provide specified personal information to the injured person or the occupants of the other vehicle and to any traffic or police officer at the scene of the accident. Under existing law, if a vehicle accident results in permanent, serious injury or death, a person who violates the requirement to stop is subject to punishment by imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3, or 4 years, or in a county jail for not less than 90 days nor more than one year, or by a specified fine, or both the imprisonment and fine. Existing law requires a person who flees the scene of the crime after committing specified vehicle manslaughter while intoxicated or vehicle manslaughter to be punished for an additional term of imprisonment of 5 years in the state prison, upon conviction, and in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed. This bill would instead require a person who violates the requirement to stop to be subject to punishment by imprisonment in the state prison for 7, 8, or 9 years if the vehicle accident results in permanent, serious injury or death.
Who sponsors CA AB 1281?
DeMaio is the primary sponsor of CA AB 1281.
Description
Existing law requires the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to a person, other than that driver, or in the death of a person, to immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident and provide specified personal information to the injured person or the occupants of the other vehicle and to any traffic or police officer at the scene of the accident. Under existing law, if a vehicle accident results in permanent, serious injury or death, a person who violates the requirement to stop is subject to punishment by imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3, or 4 years, or in a county jail for not less than 90 days nor more than one year, or by a specified fine, or both the imprisonment and fine. Existing law requires a person who flees the scene of the crime after committing specified vehicle manslaughter while intoxicated or vehicle manslaughter to be punished for an additional term of imprisonment of 5 years in the state prison, upon conviction, and in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed. This bill would instead require a person who violates the requirement to stop to be subject to punishment by imprisonment in the state prison for 7, 8, or 9 years if the vehicle accident results in permanent, serious injury or death.
- Introduced
- 2025-02-21
- Latest action
- 2026-01-13 — From committee: Without further action pursuant to Joint Rule 62(a).
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Subjects
Sponsors
- DeMaioauthor
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
2025-02-21
Introduced. To print.
introduction
2025-02-22
From printer. May be heard in committee March 24.
2025-02-24
Read first time.
reading-1
2025-03-13
Referred to Com. on PUB. S.
referral-committee
2025-04-08
In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
2025-04-10
In committee: Set, second hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
2026-01-05
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended.
amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2026-01-06
Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.
referral-committee
2026-01-13
From committee: Without further action pursuant to Joint Rule 62(a).
committee-passage,failure
2026-01-13
In committee: Set, final hearing. Failed passage.
committee-passage-unfavorable
Versions
Documents
- application/pdf
- application/pdf
- text/html
- application/pdf(no extracted text yet)
Votes
Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]
2026-01-13 · fail · 2-5
Member-level votes (9)
- Alanis: yes
- Lackey: yes
- Haney: no
- Mark González: no
- Schultz: no
- Ramos: no
- Sharp-Collins: no
- Harabedian: other
- Nguyen: other
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T01:34:27.960412Z
Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:
Use this data
Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=CA&identifier=AB 1281. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.
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