Newsom signs ‘Tristin’s Bill’ into law after deadly Highway 74 crash

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KESQ) Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1145, known as "Tristin's Bill," into law Sunday, three days before his deadline to act on it.

The bill is named for 27-year-old Tristin Bourgeois of La Quinta, who died in October 2024 when a big rig coming down Highway 74 near Vista Point in Palm Desert lost control, overturned and hit his pickup. He was driving to work at the time, according to his family.

The new law changes how Caltrans handles requests from cities and counties that want to set their own traffic rules on state highways, such as limits on truck traffic. Caltrans must now weigh the cost of a proposed rule against other possible solutions. If it rejects a request, it must give the local agency its reasons in writing.

Assemblymen Jeff Gonzalez, R-Indio, and Greg Wallis, R-Bermuda Dunes, introduced the bill in April 2025. The original version called for a Caltrans study of 10 years of crash data, 911 calls and citations on Highway 74 and similar roads. The bill cleared the Assembly Transportation Committee and passed the full Assembly in June 2025 before lawmakers narrowed it. The study language was removed before final passage.

Bourgeois' parents, Danielle Ellington and Samuel Bourgeois, said in an April 2025 statement they were speaking out in hopes of saving lives.

Highway 74 is a state highway, so local governments cannot restrict traffic on it without Caltrans approval.

The law takes effect Jan. 1.