Guest Commentary written by

Colin Campbell

Colin Campbell

Colin Campbell teaches theater and film at Chapman University and Cal Poly Pomona University. He is the author of “Finding the Words: Working Through Profound Loss With Hope and Purpose.”

In the last moments of my 17-year-old daughter’s life, I sat beside her on Highway 62 in San Bernardino County, holding her hand. 

It is a comfort to me, at least, that I could be next to my beloved, artistic high school junior, as a paramedic performed CPR. My 14-year-old son Hart — the family comedian — was just a few yards away fighting for his life as well, while I helplessly looked on. 

Just a few moments prior, my teenage children had been full of life and promise, surreptitiously texting each other romantic advice in the back seat. My wife, kids and I had been on our way to a jubilant vacation in Joshua Tree National Park, just a few hours from our home. Our two children had always been close.  

But in an instant our family was shattered. The driver who struck our car near Morongo Valley was traveling 90 miles per hour, which was 40 miles per hour above the speed limit. Neither Ruby or Hart — who, sitting in the backseat, absorbed the magnitude of the blow — survived. 

It’s hard to put into words what it’s like to experience the loss of your children. It robs you of even the will to live. 

What has kept me going is my wife, who survived, and the treasured memories I have of each of my children. I also am motivated by the potential that my family’s tragedy can contribute to positive change.  

The driver who struck us was breaking the law, egregiously. But we were also victimized by a permissive culture around dangerous driving, as are the more than 4,000 other families every year in our state — an inexcusably high number for traffic deaths. 

What happened to us could happen to any family in California. We were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Right now, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a rare opportunity to do something about it.  

The California Legislature took an admirable step to require safety technology that I really believe could have saved Ruby and Hart’s lives. Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 961, which would make passive “intelligent speed assistance” a requirement on all new cars sold in-state by 2030. We’d be the first state to do it, if Newsom signs the bill. 

This technology would give drivers an audible and visual warning when they are speeding in excess of 10 miles per hour. It is already required in Europe, and is the same sort of “nudge” we use to help ensure people wear their seatbelts.  

A lot of people get caught up in the convenience of driving and they think “I’ve got to get home sooner.” They’re not thinking about how deadly it is. I really believe if there was some kind of signal in the car that told the driver in my case that she was going so fast, it might have saved my children’s lives. 

Without bolder action by our elected leaders, the possibility of having our children, or spouses, or parents or friends, snapped away from us in an instant, forces Californians to accept a bad trade-off just to get from place to place. We need our leaders to step up and use reasonable measures and existing technology to keep this risk as low as possible.  

Other members of the group Families for Safe Streets and I — who have all paid that heavy price — are watching anxiously to see whether Newsom will do the right thing and sign this bill.