Safety bill named for Marin child clears Assembly

The state Assembly has passed a bill that was prompted by the death of a child in San Rafael.

Assembly Bill 2149, introduced by Damon Connolly in February, calls for stronger safety regulations for large, rolling gates in California. The bill has been named “The Alex Quanbeck Gate Safety Act” in honor of a 7-year-old boy who died after a 300-pound rolling gate broke loose and fell on him at Mark Day School in 2019.

Fifty-one legislators voted for the bill on Tuesday, and 10 voted against it. The bill will be reviewed by Senate committees over the summer and might reach a floor vote in August.

Quanbeck’s parents, Eric and Dayna Quanbeck, have been outspoken advocates of gate safety over the past few years. Eric Quanbeck expressed his gratitude for the bill’s passage in the Assembly.

“Dayna and I feel the love and support from what really started in San Rafael and Marin,” he said on Tuesday. “We’re very hopeful we can pass this into state law.”

Following the Assembly vote, Connolly praised his colleagues for passing the legislation.

“The tragedy of Alex Quanbeck’s death was both heartbreaking and preventable, and his story has touched our community,” said Connolly, a Democrat who lives in San Rafael. “Alex’s Law will save lives by implementing common-sense gate safety regulations to avoid another preventable tragedy.”

The bill’s language was amended to focus on gates that are “open to the public, an entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons,” rather than just gates in residential, commercial or industrial areas.

Exempt from regulation are gates at sites where agricultural products are produced, stored or sold — unless those gates are in a neighborhood or a place that’s open to the public.

Gates that weigh more than 50 pounds and are more than 84 inches high or 48 inches wide would be regulated under the bill. Regulated gates cannot fall more than 45 degrees from a vertical plane when detached, and they must have a part that stops them from moving.

If Gov. Gavin Newsom signs AB 2149 into law, then the owners of regulated gates would need to have their gates inspected by a safety professional by July 2026 and have them reinspected every five years.

Violators of safety regulations will be required to stop using their gates until they’re repaired by a licensed contractor. A gate in violation will be declared a public nuisance if the owner fails to comply with the law 30 days after being notified about the violation, according to the bill.

Alex was killed by a schoolyard gate that was considered to be poorly designed and maintained. He attempted to close the gate to prevent his ball from rolling away, but the gate’s wheels detached from the rails and the gate fell on him.

His parents have since advocated for gate safety measures across Marin County. San Rafael, Tiburon and Larkspur have adopted them.

Eric Quanbeck noted that many schools, including Mark Day School, installed gates in response to school shootings across the country.

“We’re not opposed to fences and gates being built, we understand the need for them,” he said. “But we just want to make sure that people are aware of the necessary safety devices that need to be put on these gates.”

He emphasized that gate owners should install devices that are designed to prevent gates from falling.

“The simple installation of a $50 part, known as a fall stop post, would have prevented Alex’s death,” he said. “Our goal is to make sure all existing and new gates have this safety feature to prevent future tragedies.”

The Quanbecks’ Hummingbird Alliance, a nonprofit formed to promote school safety, sponsored AB 2149. A coalition of 20 organizations representing agriculture industries opposed the bill, including the Wine Institute, the Agricultural Council of California and the California Farm Bureau Federation.

The organizations argue that the bill is a costly new mandate and that the proposed regulations could affect many gates used by agricultural businesses, according to their opposition included in the bill’s legislative analysis.

“While we understand a tragic accident led to the introduction of this bill, requiring inspections of gates on thousands of California properties is not the correct solution,” the opposition stated.

In a May 20 letter to the Assembly, the coalition noted that the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is considering more safety requirements for rolling gates. They called upon legislators to allow the board’s regulatory process to continue rather than adding more required inspections for businesses.

Eric Quanbeck said that he’s working with the bill’s opponents to understand their concerns.

“Our real goal with this bill is advocacy,” he said. “We want to make sure that all people, whether you’re at a school or an apartment building or you work at a farm or a winery, realize the risks you are taking by not having a fall protection device on the gate.”