Kristie's Law
“Kristie’s Law” was a California state bill introduced by Senator Sam Aanestad in 2004. The bill’s statewide policy came under fire by law enforcement unions and did not pass.
The Van
The emergency spotlights illuminated the wreckage of the Prianos’ van. The belly of their van showed itself.
A Worldwide Problem
Tabatha Berg, 3, never made it home from her grandmother’s house in New South Wales. She was asleep in the back seat when a driver, fleeing police, came hurtling on the wrong side of the road toward her family’s Falcon.
Candy Priano
Candy Priano reads from her manuscript, Fifteen Forever, during an Open Mic session at the Butte County, CA, Library.
Police chases kill the innocent.
In 2023, reports show the death toll rising from one a day to…
nearly two a day—killed by police pursuit crashes,
more than 1/3 are innocent bystanders.
This number continues to climb with no promise of action.
Kristie’s Law partners with PursuitSAFETY
Pursuit of Justice
January 22, 2002 – One minute, Kristie Priano was a 15-year-old honor student and community volunteer laughing with her brother in the back of the family minivan on the way to her high school basketball game. The next, she was one of hundreds who die each year across the nation from the violent crashes due to police pursuits.
More than a third are innocent bystanders—just like Kristie.
What went wrong? The mother of a teenage girl called the police, complaining that her daughter was driving the family car without permission. She told the police where they could find her daughter. Within seconds, the chase was on through a residential neighborhood dotted with two-way stop signs (a violation of the Chico police pursuit policy). The teen and the police ignored the stop signs even though intersecting streets had the right of way. At the intersection of the fifth stop sign, the teen T-boned the family van directly where Kristie was sitting behind her father, who was driving. Kristie died from a massive closed-head injury, a crushed brain stem, and extensive swelling that caused her brain to rupture. It took seven days for Kristie to die, but only a few hours for the police to send the fleeing teen home with her mother. She was not even arrested after the officers caught her.
Learn more about Candy Priano’s upcoming book, Fifteen Forever, at candypriano.com