SB 953 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Driving record: points: vehicular manslaughter.

Summary
Existing law defines vehicular manslaughter as, among other things, driving a vehicle in the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony, or driving a vehicle in the commission of a lawful act that might produce death, in an unlawful manner, that results in the unlawful killing of a human being without malice. Under existing law, vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, as defined, is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year or by imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 4, or 6 years, and vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year. Existing law authorizes a judge in the superior court in which a misdemeanor is being prosecuted to offer diversion to a defendant, and requires the judge, at the end of the diversion period and if the defendant has complied with the imposed terms and conditions, to dismiss the action against the defendant. Existing law imposes 2 violation points against a driver's record for purposes of the suspension or revocation of the privilege to drive if a driver is convicted of vehicular manslaughter. This bill would impose 2 violation points against a driver's record for a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter violation that was dismissed by a judge upon the completion of diversion.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Aug 2026
Senate Passage
May 2026
Assembly Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 2, 2026 Last action Aug 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

02/02/26 - Introduced 04/06/26 - Amended Senate · 3 edits · Apr 6, 2026
MINOR
The amended version of SB 953 makes only minor technical corrections: it fixes a duplicate paragraph number in subdivision (d), changes the opening phrase from 'In determining' to 'When determining,' and adds two coauthors. The core policy of imposing 2 violation points for misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter dismissed upon completion of diversion is unchanged.
TECHNICAL

Changed the opening language of Section 12810 from 'In determining the violation point count' to 'When determining the violation point count.'

Removed a stray duplicate paragraph number '(2)' in subdivision (d), correcting the numbering sequence from (1), (2), (2), (3) to (1), (2), (3).

Added Senator Archuleta and Assembly Member Lackey as coauthors of the bill.

Floor votes · Senate May 22, 2026

How they voted

330
Passed · 7 other
Total votes 40
May 22, 2026
D Democratic30
25 Yea 5
83% Yea
R Republican10
8 Yea 2
80% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
20
Key actions
7
Committee
7
Amendments
1
Aug 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
August 13 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
lower
Jun 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (June 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
lower
Jun 9, 2026
Lower · Passed
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on TRANS. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 9). Re-referred to Com. on TRANS.
lower
Jun 1, 2026
Committee
Referred to Coms. on PUB. S. and TRANS.
lower
May 22, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 33. Noes 0. Page 4417.) Ordered to the Assembly.
upper
May 14, 2026
Upper · Passed
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 4259.) (May 14).
upper
Apr 15, 2026
Upper · Passed
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 0. Page 3873.) (April 14). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
upper
Apr 6, 2026
Upper · Passed
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on TRANS.
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Committee
Referred to Com. on TRANS.
upper
Feb 2, 2026
Introduced
Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
upper
1 primary · 2 co-sponsors

Sponsors