We recently told you about all the driver safety bills that were failing. 

But not all of them did. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed four new laws into existence last week, mostly designed to address the skyrocketing number of DUI-related deaths across the state. 

The new laws will: 

• Make it easier to charge drunk drivers with murder if they have a prior DUI arrest. (Previously, prosecutors couldn’t often bring that charge if the driver had previously been arrested for a DUI but ultimately pleaded down to a lesser charge.)

• Increase the criminal penalties for drivers who kill someone in a hit and run if they had a prior DUI at the time of the fatal crash.

• Allow prosecutors to charge a third DUI within 10 years as a felony. (Before this, it typically took four DUIs in a decade before law enforcement could seek the stiffer charges.)

• Increase the points that most drivers convicted of killing someone while driving drunk get on their license from two to three. (The bill initially would have increased the points for all vehicular manslaughter convictions and not just those involving intoxication, but it was watered down during the session.) 

• Require the DMV to revoke a driver’s license for six years if they drive drunk and hurt someone after having four prior DUIs. 

As our reporting has shown, California has some of the weakest DUI laws in the nation, allowing repeat offenders to stay on the road, with deadly consequences. I doubt these news laws will move the needle in that respect. 

Perhaps the most significant DUI-related bill, which would bring California in line with most states and force anyone convicted of a DUI to install an in-car breathalyzer, got gutted by lawmakers in secret.

In a signing statement accompanying one of the bills, Newsom said “the Legislature should return to that broader effort next year” and work on “comprehensive, long-term framework for DUI sanctions” that are clear and consistent.

What you can do next:

• Read the full story about the new laws from Robert Lewis and Lauren Hepler. 

• Help us report our next story: If you have a story about someone being killed or badly hurt by a driver who wasn’t prosecuted, we want to hear from you.

• Help us keep investigating: We’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and independent newsroom, powered by donations from people like you. Please give now to fuel journalism building a safer future for Californians.