Widening a highway to cure congestion is like losing weight by buying bigger pants — but thanks to the same principle of "induced demand," adding bike paths and train lines to cure climate actually works.

Lessons learned from 14 years of engineering at Google, focusing on what truly matters beyond just writing great code.

__Welcome to License to Kill, an investigative series on how California lets dangerous drivers stay on the road.Sign up for our License to Kill newsletter to be notified when the next story comes out, and to get more behind-the-scenes information from our reporting.__ In California, you can kill someone with your car and not even have a point on your license. That’s because of a criminal justice reform law passed in 2020, allowing judges to effectively erase a misdemeanor case from existence. It shields people accused of “low-level” crimes from the stigma of having a conviction on their record, something that can limit work and housing opportunities. But an ongoing CalMatters investigation found that the new misdemeanor diversion program has also had an unintended consequence: It allows some people charged with vehicular manslaughter to keep the case off of their driving record. That means you could face more penalties for a speeding ticket than for running someone over. Allison Lyman first heard about misdemeanor diversion from a Sacramento County prosecutor. In April, her 23-year-old son, Connor Lopez, was riding his motorcycle in Elk Grove when an oncoming car made a left turn and collided with him. Lopez, a piano teacher, died in the roadway. The district attorney’s office charged the driver, Harjit Kaur, with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter — alleging that her failure to yield to oncoming traffic caused the fatal crash, court records show. Then the prosecutor told Lyman to brace herself: The case could be wiped off Kaur’s record and sealed from view if Kaur asks for diversion and a judge grants it. “I’m 43 and I will have to live the rest of my life without my son. But there’ll be no record of it for her?” Lyman said. 1. Follow this investigation 2. Follow this investigation 1. California lets dangerous drivers stay on the road. Be the first to know when our next story comes out. 2. California lets dangerous drivers stay on the road. Be the first to know when our next story comes out. Email By clicking subscribe, you agree to the terms. Δ It’s part of a larger anger and frustration Lyman has at how the system is treating her son’s death. She said she was talking to police and one of the officers kept referring to the case as “low-level.” “She took my son’s life, but that’s how they’re seen — low-level,” Lyman said. Participants gather during a candlelight vigil for the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims at the Capitol in Sacramento on Nov. 16, 2025. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters Diversion programs have been around for decades nationwide. They essentially let a judge pause a case and order a defendant to meet certain requirements over a specified period of time — like going to rehab and doing community service. If the defendant successfully completes the terms, their case is dismissed. Some diversion programs focus on certain types of criminal defendants, such as military veterans or people with mental health issues. A prosecutor often had to agree to diversion. But the 2020 law lets judges in California order diversion for almost all misdemeanors, with few, if any, requirements that defendants have to fulfill, and over the objection of a prosecutor. Five years later, court records show defense attorneys are routinely requesting diversion not just for offenses such as shoplifting and drug possession but also for cases in which someone died. Rochelle Beardsley, assistant chief deputy district attorney in Sacramento County, said that’s like telling a victim’s family that their loved one’s life meant nothing. “That’s unfair to folks that have suffered greatly already,” she said. CalMatters identified about three dozen drivers who have avoided a vehicular manslaughter conviction through the misdemeanor diversion law. The actual number could be much higher because such cases are often sealed and scrubbed from searchable databases at county courthouses. CalMatters was able to identify instances in which diversion was granted by visiting courthouses around the state. In some cases, the files weren’t sealed because the defendant hadn’t yet completed the terms of the diversion program and the case was still active. Other times, we found cases where diversion was successfully completed but the records were still visible in court databases. Vehicular manslaughter can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the circumstances. Prosecutors typically charge a misdemeanor if the driver wasn’t intoxicated or driving in an extremely dangerous manner – like excessive speeding. In court, prosecutors and victims’ families often make emotional pleas for justice in arguing against letting the drivers off. Sometimes the judges listen and deny diversion. When they don’t, there’s a clear practical impact: The defendant keeps a clean driving record. That’s because diversion isn’t considered a conviction, and only violations for which a motorist is convicted are listed on a person’s DMV record. That means the law isn’t just allowing the defendants to escape criminal penalties. It can allow them to avoid DMV punishments, too. Manslaughter typically counts as two points on a driver’s record and can lead to higher insurance premiums, traffic school and even a license suspension if the driver racks up additional points for things such as speeding or running a red light. Of the three dozen drivers we identified who were granted diversion, there’s no indication of the manslaughter case on any of their driving records. (Some of the records do show the driver was in a collision. But the DMV records the agency released don’t reveal who was at fault or the crash’s severity.) Most currently have a valid license. Nearly a third of the drivers have gotten a traffic ticket or been involved in another collision after the fatal crash, their DMV records show. That includes a young man in Los Angeles who fell asleep at the wheel and ran over a bicyclist. He got a red-light ticket just a few months after the judge granted diversion and a speeding ticket this summer, shortly after his case was dismissed. In Alameda County, a driver who was in a fatal 2022 crash that killed his passenger got a speeding ticket just two months before a judge granted diversion. In Butte County, a driver who was in a fatal 2020 crash got two traffic tickets last year shortly before a judge granted him diversion and then promptly got a speeding ticket. Erika Pringle, with Victim Advocate Angels, embraces Allison Lyman at The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims event at the Capitol in Sacramento on Nov. 16, 2025. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel Lowenthal helped craft the 2020 legislation. He said he’s “very protective of diversion” because he’s seen it work so well and that it could be appropriate in some vehicular manslaughter cases. “Might a court think it appropriate to divert so they don’t lose their job and suffer the draconian collateral consequences? Potentially,” Lowenthal said. However, he said, it would be fair for the state to ensure that the diversion still ended up on a driver’s DMV record. Kaur, the woman charged in Connor Lopez’s death, was arraigned on Monday in Sacramento County Superior Court. Because it’s a misdemeanor case, she didn’t need to show up. After the brief proceedings, her attorney, Hendrick Crowell, declined to comment. At such an early stage in the court process, there’s no indication Kaur’s attorney will even seek diversion. Still, Allison Lyman is already meeting with lawmakers and hoping to get the possibility of such an outcome taken off the table. For now, every Wednesday she goes to the site of her son’s death along with her mom and sister, and sometimes her daughter, she said. They stand along the side of the road holding signs with Lopez’s picture, urging drivers to be safe. “If there was some consequence, maybe — maybe — people would think about the responsibility when they get behind the wheel of a car,” Lyman said. ## license to kill ### License to Kill April 14, 2025 ### They were convicted of killing with their cars. No one told the California DMV June 25, 2025December 10, 2025 ### 15 DUIs, still driving: California’s failure to take repeat drunk drivers off the road October 30, 2025 ### 40,000 people died on California roads. State leaders looked away December 11, 2025December 11, 2025 Read more from CalMatters Text Get breaking news on your phone. Download Keep up with the latest via our app. Sign up Receive free updates in your inbox. ## Nonpartisan, independent California news for all We’re CalMatters, your nonprofit and nonpartisan news guide. Our journalists are here to empower you and our mission continues to be essential. * **We are independent and nonpartisan.** Our trustworthy journalism is free from partisan politics, free from corporate influence and actually free for all Californians. * **We are focused on California issues.** From the environment to homelessness, economy and more, we publish the unfettered truth to keep you informed. * **We hold people in power accountable.** We probe and reveal the actions and inactions of powerful people and institutions, and the consequences that follow. But we can’t keep doing this without support from readers like you. **********Please give what you can today. Every gift helps.********** GIVE NOW

The Better Bike Lanes project in the metropolitan area of Boston has led to a substantial increase in bicycle trips and a modest decrease in the number of motor vehicles on the roads at any given time. Taking place between 2023 and 2024, the changes were revealed in a report from the City of Boston. […] The post Bostonians Wanted More Bike Lanes: Now They Have Them, and Traffic Is Down appeared first on Good News Network.

_Smithsonian_ magazine covers history, science and culture in the way only it can — through a lens on the world that is insightful and grounded in richly reported stories. In There’s More to That, meet the magazine’s journalists and hear how they discover the forces behind the biggest issues of our time.