Newsom signs Tristin's Bill, forcing Caltrans to explain itself on Highway 74 safety
AB 1145, named for a 27-year-old La Quinta man killed by a big rig on Highway 74 in 2024, requires Caltrans to weigh costs and alternatives before rejecting local safety ordinances, and to put rejections in writing.
PALM SPRINGS: Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1145, known as Tristin's Bill, a measure inspired by a fatal 2024 crash on Highway 74 above Palm Desert that requires Caltrans to show its work when it turns down local traffic safety requests.
The bill is named for Tristin Samuel Bourgeois, a 27-year-old La Quinta man killed on October 31, 2024, when a big rig collided with his vehicle on the mountain highway, NBC Palm Springs and MyNewsLA reported.
What the law requires
Under the new law, when a local government proposes an ordinance affecting a state highway, Caltrans must examine the costs and alternatives to the proposal and provide a written explanation if it rejects it. Local cities have long been able to propose changes to traffic rules on state highways within their jurisdictions, but Caltrans held the final say with no obligation to explain a no.
Highway 74 has claimed too many lives, and the loss of Tristin Bourgeois is a heartbreaking call to action.
The bill was carried by Assemblymembers Jeff Gonzalez, R-Indio, and Greg Wallis, R-Bermuda Dunes.
The legislation changed significantly on its way through Sacramento, The Desert Sun reported. As introduced, it proposed doubling fines on commercial truck drivers who violate weight rules on Highway 74 between Palm Desert and Anza. The final version centers instead on transparency around Caltrans decisions.
A road with a deadly record
In March, the Riverside County Transportation Department found the collision rate on Highway 74 south of Palm Desert was 125 percent higher than on comparable rural two-lane roads. The study recommended prohibiting trucks with more than three axles on the curviest roughly 20-mile stretch, from Palm Desert to State Route 371.
Highway 74 has claimed too many lives, and the loss of Tristin Bourgeois is a heartbreaking call to action.Assemblymember Greg Wallis
Tina Bourgeois, Tristin's stepmother and a leading advocate for the road's safety, expressed mixed feelings about the final bill. "You feel like, this is not what I wanted, but then you have to realize and look at the positive of what is being done," she told The Desert Sun earlier this month.
Riverside County Supervisor Manuel Perez, who has pressed Caltrans to act on the study's recommendations, said the agency asked for additional areas of study before implementing them, delaying progress. "This is a very important issue. We are talking about life and death," Perez said.
What comes next
Gonzalez said the bill "gives our local communities greater transparency when decisions are made about our roads." Local advocates have long urged Caltrans to improve safety on the road with more enforcement and pothole repairs.
With the law now on the books, the next test will be how Caltrans responds the first time a valley city brings it a safety proposal for the mountain highway, and whether the written record the law requires gives residents real leverage over its safety decisions.
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