BILL NUMBER: SB 1726 CHAPTERED 09/30/06 CHAPTER 881 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 30, 2006 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 30, 2006 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 29, 2006 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2006 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 21, 2006 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 14, 2006 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 19, 2006 INTRODUCED BY Senator Lowenthal (Coauthor: Assembly Member Huff) FEBRUARY 24, 2006 An act to amend Section 375 of, and to add Section 25353 to, the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1726, Lowenthal Vehicles: publicly owned transit system buses: illuminated signs. (1) Existing law requires buses to be equipped with identification lamps and signs and lighting, as specified. Existing law makes violation of operating provisions of the Vehicle Code a crime. This bill would authorize buses, operated by a publicly owned transit system on regularly scheduled service, to be equipped with certain illuminated signs, as specified. The bill would require that the illuminated signs adhere to certain specifications; and would thereby create a new crime and impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would revise "lighting equipment" to include these illuminated signs. (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 375 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read: 375. "Lighting equipment" is any of the following lamps or devices: (a) A headlamp, auxiliary driving, passing, or fog lamp, fog taillamp, taillamp, stoplamp, supplemental stoplamp, license plate lamp, clearance lamp, side marker lamp, signal lamp or device, supplemental signal lamp, deceleration signal device, cornering lamp, running lamp, red, blue, amber, or white warning lamp, flashing red schoolbus lamp, side-mounted turn signal lamp, and schoolbus side lamp. (b) An operating unit or canceling mechanism for turn signal lamps or for the simultaneous flashing of turn signal lamps as vehicular hazard signals, and an advance stoplamp switch. (c) A flasher mechanism for turn signals, red schoolbus lamps, warning lamps, the simultaneous flashing of turn signal lamps as vehicular hazard signals, and the headlamp flashing systems for emergency vehicles. (d) Any equipment regulating the light emitted from a lamp or device or the light sources therein. (e) A reflector, including reflectors for use on bicycles, and reflectors used for required warning devices. (f) An illuminating device that emits radiation predominantly in the infrared or ultraviolet regions of the spectrum, whether or not these emissions are visible to the unaided eye. (g) An illuminated sign installed on a bus that utilizes an electronic display to convey the route designation, route number, run number, public service announcement, or any combination of these information. SEC. 2. Section 25353 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read: 25353. (a) Notwithstanding Sections 25400 and 25950, a bus operated by a publicly owned transit system on regularly scheduled service may be equipped with illuminated signs that include destination signs, route-number signs, run-number signs, public service announcement signs, or a combination thereof, visible from any direction of the vehicle, that emit any light color, other than the color red emitted from forward-facing signs, pursuant to the following conditions: (1) Each illuminated sign shall emit diffused nonglaring light. (2) Each illuminated sign shall be limited in size to a display area of not greater than 720 square inches. (3) Each illuminated sign shall not resemble nor be installed in a position that interferes with the visibility or effectiveness of a required lamp, reflector, or other device upon the vehicle. (4) Each illuminated sign shall display information directly related to public transit service, including, but not limited to, route number, destination description, run number, and public service announcements. (5) The mixing of individually colored light emitting diode elements, including red, is allowed as long as the emitted color formed by the combination of light emitting diode elements is not red. (b) (1) An illuminated sign may be operated as a dynamic message sign in a paging or streaming mode. (2) The following definitions shall govern the construction of paragraph (1): (A) "Paging," meaning character elements or other information presented for a period of time and then disappearing all at once before the same or new elements are presented, is permitted if the display time of each message is between 2.7 and 10 seconds. Blanking times between each message shall be between 0.5 and 25 seconds. (B) "Streaming," meaning character elements or other information moving smoothly and continuously across the display, is permitted if the character movement time, from one end of the display to the other, is at least 2.7 seconds, and the movement time of the entire message does not exceed 10 seconds. (c) A regulation adopted pursuant to this section shall comply with applicable federal law, including, but not limited to, the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.). SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.