Long Beach Cracks Down on Traffic Fatalities

0:00It's April 25th. Welcome to California News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. Long Beach Police are stepping up traffic enforcement big time because fatal crashes are spiking in the city. Last year they had 56 traffic deaths and already this year through April, it's 22. Chief Wally Hevesch calls it a devastating trend that's hitting families hard. This crackdown comes right after some tragic hits, like a three-year-old girl killed on March 2, 2026, when a driver backed up over, a curb and struck people on front steps. Just a month before that, a 54-year-old woman lost her life biking through an intersection. Folks in the neighborhood are reeling and pushing for changes, saying spots like that busy corner need traffic lights and speed bumps to slow things. Down. They've seen bad wrecks before, like cars flying through at 90 miles an hour, turning into explosions of metal. The chief stresses it's on. When drivers, walkers, riders to stay alert, since cars are weapons on wheels and our bodies

1:02can't take the hit. Officials are ramping up patrols to catch speeders and distracted folks. With more eyes on the roads now, Long Beach hopes to cut these losses and give back to safer streets for all.