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The California Report

License to Kill: California DMV's History of Keeping Dangerous Drivers on the Road

Bejan Siavoshy
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Jerrod Tejeda holds a framed photo of his daughter Cassi Tejeda, at his home in Visalia on March 6, 2025. She and a friend were killed in 2022 by a drunk driver who had a history of DUI convictions, and was in possession of a valid California driver's license at the time of the collision.  (Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)

  • It might sound farfetched, but the California Department of Motor Vehicles has a track-record of renewing the licenses of drivers whose dangerous maneuvers behind the wheel have caused deaths on the road.
  • In Southern California, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) has decided to move forward with plans to stabilize the coastal highway corridor that links Los Angeles, Orang and San Diego counties. However, the plan is not being met with much fanfare by local environmentalists.

Is the DMV Handing Out a License to Kill When Renewing Driving Privileges for Dangerous Motorists?

A recent investigation by CalMatters has shed light on the California DMV’s severe oversight when it comes to keeping dangerous drivers off the streets. CalMatters examined the driving records of roughly 2,600 state residents that were charged with vehicular manslaughter since 2019.

One standout finding is this: nearly half of them currently have valid drivers licenses. There are hundreds of these individuals that were convicted of misdemeanor vehicular man slaughter, and they never had their licenses suspended, even though they were convicted of killing someone because of their driving.

Environmentalists Cry Foul Over Plan to Stabilize Coastal Railway

Railway authorities in Southern California say it’s full steam ahead for their plan to use sand and a rock wall to stabilize the San Clemente rail corridor–a stretch of coastal railway that’s part of the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo rail corridor.

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The plan would add more than 500,000 cubic yards of sand and additional rocks to shore up the railway. A wall blocking rising ocean waters and debris would also be built to help prevent landslides.

This stretch of railway has been hit by multiple landslides since 2021, and coastal erosion has pushed OCTA to fast-track the emergency measure to start the stabilization project.

But environmentalists say that OCTA’s plan is temporary at best, and in the long-run, it would harm the local environment, limit access to beaches that are near this stretch of railway, and the addition of more rocks to the area would actually contribute to coastal erosion.

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