San Diego

Legislation stemming from a 1983 accident in which a 14-year-old boy rammed a car into the front of a Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor, injuring nine people, now makes it a misdemeanor to drive recklessly in shopping center parking lots.

The bill, authored by Assemblywoman Lucy Killea, D-San Diego, extends the California traffic law on reckless driving to retail parking lots. Previously traffic laws did not apply to private property.

Reckless driving is punishable by five to 90 days in county jail or a fine of $145 to $1,000 or both, according to Killea.

In July, 1983, a 14-year-old boy trying to park a station wagon crashed into the Fashion Valley Farrell’s, injuring nine people, two of them seriously. The boy, who was parking the car while his 18-year-old sister bought movie tickets, apparently hit the accelerator instead of the brake. Charges could not be filed because the accident occurred on private property.

The legislation, signed by the governor on July 4, is a companion to a 1984 measure by Killea which made it illegal for an unlicensed driver to operate a vehicle in a parking lot.

Killea said, “As we got into it, some law enforcement people said (the second bill) would be useful because they couldn’t arrest anyone who was driving recklessly on private property. This bill gives police the opportunity to go into the lot and arrest somebody for reckless driving.”