BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1132
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 1132 (Torrico)
As Amended August 29, 2005
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |61-17|(June 2, 2005) |SENATE: |24-14|(September 6, |
| | | | | |2005) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |44-29|(September 7, | | | |
| | |2005) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY : Repeals the mandatory 30-day impoundment of a vehicle
that has been seized due to its driver being unlicensed.
The Senate amendments add language to assure that this bill does
not inadvertently chapter out AB 979 (Runner), in the event that
both bills are enacted. (AB 979, which deals with
driving-under-the-influence violations and is currently on the
Senate Floor, proposes to amend the same Vehicle Code section as
does this bill.)
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes a peace officer who determines that a person was
driving a vehicle while his or her driving privilege was
suspended or revoked or without ever having been issued a
driver's license, to either immediately arrest that person and
cause the removal and seizure of that vehicle or, if the
vehicle has been involved in a traffic collision, cause the
removal and seizure of the vehicle.
2)Sets at 30 days the term of impoundment for a vehicle
impounded under those circumstances.
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3)Provides the registered and legal owner of a vehicle that is
impounded under those circumstances, or their agents, the
opportunity for a storage hearing to determine the validity
of, or to consider any mitigating circumstances attendant to,
the vehicle's storage.
4)Requires the impounded vehicle to be returned to its owner
prior to the 30 day period if: a) it is a stolen vehicle; b)
it is subject to bailment and is driven by an unlicensed
employee of a business establishment, including a parking
service or repair garage; c) the license of the driver was
suspended or revoked for an offense other than speeding,
reckless driving, leaving the scene of an injury accident, or
using a vehicle as part of a felony; d) it was seized for an
offense that does not authorize the seizure of a vehicle; or,
e) the driver reinstates his or her driver's license or
acquires a driver's license and proper insurance.
5)Prohibits an impounded vehicle from being released without
presentation of the registered owner's or agent's currently
valid driver's license and proof of current vehicle
registration, or upon order of a court.
6)Holds the registered owner responsible for all towing and
storage charges related to the impoundment, and any authorized
administrative charges.
7)Requires the release of an impounded vehicle to the legal
owner or the owner's agent prior to the end of 30 days'
impoundment if the legal owner is a vehicle dealer, bank,
credit union, acceptance corporation, or other licensed
financial institution, the legal owner or agent pays all
towing and storage fees, and the owner or agent presents
either lawful foreclosure documents or an affidavit of
repossession for the vehicle.
8)Prohibits a legal owner or owner's agent who obtains release
of an impounded vehicle from releasing the vehicle to the
registered owner of the vehicle or any agents of the
registered owner, unless the registered owner is a rental car
agency, until after the termination of the 30-day impoundment
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period.
9)Prohibits a legal owner or owner's agent from relinquishing a
vehicle to the registered owner until the registered owner or
owner's agent presents his or her valid driver's license or
valid temporary driver's license to the legal owner or owner's
agent. The legal owner or owner's agent must make every
reasonable effort to ensure that the license presented is
valid.
10) Allows the legal owner, prior to relinquishing the vehicle,
to require the registered owner to pay all towing and storage
charges related to the impoundment and any authorized
administrative charges that were incurred by the legal owner
in connection with obtaining custody of the vehicle.
11) Requires an impounded vehicle to be released to a rental
car agency prior to the end of 30 days' impoundment if the
agency is either the legal owner or registered owner of the
vehicle and the agency pays all towing and storage fees
related to the seizure of the vehicle.
12) Allows the owner of a rental vehicle that was impounded to
continue to rent the vehicle upon recovery of the vehicle.
However, the rental car agency may not rent another vehicle to
the driver of the vehicle that was seized until 30 days after
the date that the vehicle was seized.
13) Allows a rental car agency to require the person to whom
the vehicle was rented to pay all towing and storage charges
related to the impoundment and any authorized administrative
charges that were incurred by the rental car agency in
connection with obtaining custody of the vehicle.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Authorized a peace officer who determines that a person who
has been driving a vehicle and has never been issued a
driver's license, to either immediately arrest that person and
remove and seize the vehicle or, if the vehicle was involved
in a collision, to seize and remove it without arresting the
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driver.
2)Required the impounding agency to send a notice by certified
mail, return receipt requested, to the legal owner of the
vehicle, informing him or her of the impoundment.
3)Prohibited charging more than 15 days impoundment if the
notice is not made within two working days of the impoundment.
4)Required the impounding agency to maintain a published
telephone number that provides 24 hour a day impoundment
information.
5)Allowed the registered and legal owners of any vehicle
impounded under these circumstances an opportunity for a
storage hearing, conducted by the agency that has ordered the
storage, to determine the validity of the storage or to
consider any mitigating circumstances.
6)Provided that the vehicle duration of storage under these
provisions shall be included as part of any impoundment order
by a court.
7)Required an impounding agency to release an impounded vehicle
upon request of the legal or registered owner, or the legal
owner's agent.
8)Required the person requesting release of the vehicle to
present a currently valid driver's license and proof of
current vehicle registration, unless the release is ordered by
a court.
9)Exempted from the requirement to provide proof of current
registration a vehicle that is being transported to a
repossessor's storage facility.
10) Required the release of an impounded vehicle to the legal
owner if that owner is a vehicle dealer, or a bank, credit
union, acceptance corporation, or other financial institution,
or is another person, other than the registered owner, holding
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a security interest in the vehicle.
11) Held the registered or legal owner responsible for all
towing, storage, and administrative charges.
12) Prohibited the legal owner from relinquishing the vehicle
to the registered owner until that owner, or his or her agent,
presents a valid driver's license that the legal owner must
attempt to validate.
13) Allowed the legal owner to require the registered owner to
pay all towing, storage and administrative charges, plus any
parking fines, penalties and fees incurred by the registered
owner.
14) Specified that the registered owner is responsible for any
towing and storage and administrative charges incurred by the
legal owner related to the impoundment.
15) Provided that the impounding agency is not liable to the
registered owner for the improper release of the vehicle to
the legal owner if the vehicle was released under the
provisions of this bill.
16) Provided that the existing 30-day impoundment required for
any vehicle driven by an individual driving without a license
or with a suspended or revoked license, does not apply to a
driver who has never been licensed.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. The bill is keyed nonfiscal.
COMMENTS : This bill repeals the mandatory 30-day impoundment
period for vehicles driven by an individual who has never been
licensed at all. The author asserts that current law allowing
vehicles to be impounded for 30 days "can put an undue burden on
registered owners in many ways. For example, if an unlicensed
teen is apprehended on a 'joy ride,' the impounding of the
vehicle will severely restrict the, possible, sole means of
transportation for any other licensed family members. Such a
situation could negatively impact a family's ability to travel
to school, work, or at worst, a hospital in an emergency
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situation. Compounding this problem are the costs for payment
to release an impounded vehicle which may equal the amount in
upwards of $1,500, adding a financial burden for owners." The
author contrasts this situation with one where a driver charged
with driving under the influence is able to retrieve his or her
vehicle after 24 hours.
The sponsors, the California Legal Assistance Foundation and
State Farm Insurance Company, note that a 30-day impoundment
results in an "undue punishment for many vehicle owners,
including those who have a driver's license." In the case of
low-income persons, the cost of a lengthy impoundment may even
exceed the value of the vehicle.
Currently, a 30-day impoundment is required when a driver is
either unlicensed, or is driving on a suspended or revoked
license. By removing unlicensed drivers from that provision,
the author appears to be trying to differentiate high risk
individuals with demonstrably poor driving records and who ought
not have access to their vehicles for at least 30 days from
those who may simply be unable to obtain a license due, for
instance, to residency issues. (In order to obtain a driver's
license in California, an applicant must provide proof of legal
residency.) Thus, this bill seeks to protect these drivers from
losing the use of their vehicles for an entire month and,
perhaps more importantly, from accruing storage charges that
exceed the value of the vehicle.
Opponents of similar legislation have noted that "this bill
appears to apply a 'double standard' because legal residents
whose licenses were suspended or revoked still would be
punished," while those who have not provided proof of residency
in order to obtain a driver's license would escape punishment.
Related legislation: SB 591 (Cedillo), a two-year bill that is
in the Senate Public Safety Committee, would require a city or
county to exempt from the impound period persons who have never
been issued a driver's license due to their inability to meet
the driver's license application requirement to document one's
legal presence in the United States.
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GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
Repealing the mandatory 30-day impoundment period for
vehicles that law enforcement seizes because the
driver does not have a valid driver's license would
endanger public safety. By requiring the impounding
agency to release the vehicle to the owner upon
request fails to address the problem the author states
he would like to solve, vehicles impounded due to joy
riding.
AB 1132 severely weakens a law, which has been proven
an effective measure to discourage unlicensed drivers
from driving and to deter vehicle owners from
irresponsibly lending their vehicle to an unlicensed
driver. Enacting this measure would send a message to
unlicensed drivers that it is acceptable to break the
law by driving because the consequences for their
actions have been eliminated. Given the existing law
contains many reasonable exceptions where an owner may
retrieve a vehicle from impoundment before the end of
the 30-day impoundment period, this bill is
unnecessary.
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0013461