STATE SENATE | On the heels of a near-death accident this weekend involving a limousine ablaze in Walnut Creek and the tragic death of five women last month on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, State Sen. Ellen Corbett introduced legislation Monday requiring rear exit doors in all limos.

In addition to providing additional exit points for limo passengers, the legislation also calls for at least two windows capable of being pushed out from the interior of the passenger’s compartment.

Last May 4, Bay Area resident were shocked when a bride and four of her friends travelling on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge perished in a limo fire. Earlier in the evening, the friends had attended a Neriza Fojas’ bridal shower. The official cause of the fire is still unknown.

Over this past weekend, 10 elderly women traveling by limo to their friend’s 90th birthday party all escaped injury when their limo caught fire.

Corbett, in a statement Monday, says her bill “will hopefully ensure that a tragedy such as the one that occurred on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge on that fateful night never again happens.”

The past iteration of SB 109, now sitting in the Assembly Transportation Committee, sailed through the senate without objection. However, that version dealt with allowing modifications to vehicles aimed at improving their aerodynamic qualities. No hearing date has been set for this new bill.