Californians who are caught speeding at more than 100 mph will now face new disciplinary actions imposed by the Department of Motor Vehicles that could include losing their driving privileges.
The pilot program, called Forwarded Actions for Speeding Tickets, is a joint effort by the DMV and California Highway Patrol to reverse the alarming rise in traffic fatalities, according to the California State Transportation Agency. The program was launched last week.
“We want to take immediate action against dangerous drivers before their carelessness leads to a deadly crash,” said Steve Gordon, director of the DMV. “We’re being proactive, and together with our CHP partners, we’re ready to put the brakes on this reckless behavior.”
What is the program?
On average, CHP officers issue about 1,600 citations each month to drivers flying down the road at speeds in excess of 100 mph, according to the California State Transportation Agency. In 2024, CHP issued more then 18,000 such citations.
Under the new pilot program, every driver who is ticketed by the CHP for exceeding 100 mph — regardless of their prior driving record — will have their citation automatically forwarded to the DMV’s Driver Safety Branch.
The DMV will then review the case and the driver’s history to determine next steps. The DMV has the discretion to impose penalties that could include the suspension or revocation of driving privileges.
This administrative process can proceed independently of any court conviction.
FAST isn’t a permanent program. The DMV will evaluate the program’s impact by comparing citation and outcome data to the same period the previous year.
Some California highways are deadly
Over the past decade, nearly 40,000 people have died and more than 2 million people have been injured on California roads, according to a CalMatters investigation.
In 2023 alone, there were approximately 3,600 fatalities and more than 14,000 serious injuries on all state public roadways, according to data from the California State Transportation Agency.
The deaths and injures were caused by a combination of repeat drunk drivers, chronic speeders and motorists with documented histories of reckless driving, CalMatters reported.
Since 2010, fatalities and serious injuries related to speeding and aggressive driving increased by 52%, according to the California Department of Transportation.
To understand where traffic deaths happen and the factors that contribute to them, researchers from ConsumerAffairs analyzed data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) in California from 2018 to 2022. The analysis found that speed was a major factor in traffic collisions that lead to death or injury.
In its 2024 report, ConsumerAffairs found that the uptick in these specific incidents was partially driven by reckless drivers who took advantage of less-congested roads during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Researchers were able to pinpoint this driver behavior on 10 stretches of state roads primarily in Southern California.
The five deadliest stretches of roadway were:
- The 15 Freeway in San Bernardino County: 48 deaths in 2022, up from 33 in 2018
- The 10 Freeway in Riverside County: 31 deaths in 2022, up from 25 in 2018
- The 5 Freeway In San Diego County: 21 deaths in 2022, up from 19 in 2018
- 5 Freeway in Orange County: 16 deaths in 2022, up from 14 in 2018
- The 101 Freeway in Santa Barbara County: 15 deaths in 2022, up from 7 in 2018
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