BILL NUMBER: AB 213	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 17, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 25, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal

                        FEBRUARY 2, 2009

   An act to amend Section 22502 of the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 213, as amended, Bonnie Lowenthal. Vehicles: parking.
   Existing law generally requires a vehicle, stopped or parked upon
a roadway where there are adjacent curbs, to be stopped or parked
with the right-hand wheels of the vehicle parallel with and within 18
inches of the right-hand curb, with specified exceptions, including
authorizing a vehicle to be stopped or parked with the left-hand
wheels parallel to and within 18 inches of the left-hand curb on a
one-way roadway.
   This bill would allow  local authorities  
the City of Long Beach  to permit vehicles to park on the
left-hand side of the roadway parallel to and within 18 inches of the
left-hand curb on a two-way local residential street that dead-ends
with no designated area in which to turn around provided that the
 local authority   city  makes a finding,
supported by a professional engineering study, that the ordinance or
resolution is justified by the need to facilitate the safe and
orderly movement of vehicles, and the applicable streets are
demarcated with signs or markings giving adequate notice of the
parking allowances.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 22502 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   22502.  (a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a
vehicle stopped or parked upon a roadway where there are adjacent
curbs shall be stopped or parked with the right-hand wheels of the
vehicle parallel with and within 18 inches of the right-hand curb,
except that motorcycles shall be parked with at least one wheel or
fender touching the right-hand curb. Where no curbs or barriers bound
a two-way roadway, right-hand parallel parking is required unless
otherwise indicated.
   (b) The provisions of subdivision (a) or (e) do not apply to a
commercial vehicle if a variation from the requirements of
subdivision (a) or (e) is reasonably necessary to accomplish the
loading or unloading of merchandise or passengers on, or from, the
vehicle and while anything connected with the loading, or unloading,
is being executed.
   This subdivision does not permit a vehicle to stop or park upon a
roadway in a direction opposite to that in which traffic normally
moves upon that half of the roadway on which the vehicle is stopped
or parked.
   (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), local authorities may, by
ordinance, prohibit commercial vehicles from stopping, parking, or
standing on one side of a roadway in a business district with the
wheels of the vehicle more than 18 inches from the curb. The
ordinance shall be effective only if signs are placed in the areas to
which it is applicable clearly indicating the prohibition.
   (d) This section does not apply to vehicles of a public utility
when the vehicles are being used in connection with the operation,
maintenance, or repair of facilities of the public utility or are
being used in connection with providing public utility service.
   (e) Upon a one-way roadway, vehicles may be stopped or parked as
provided in subdivision (a) or with the left-hand wheels parallel to
and within 18 inches of the left-hand curb, except that motorcycles,
if parked on the left-hand side, shall have either one wheel or one
fender touching the curb. Where no curb or barriers bound a one-way
roadway, parallel parking on either side is required unless otherwise
indicated.
   This subdivision does not apply upon the roadways of a divided
highway.
   (f)  A local authority   The City of Long
Beach  may, by ordinance or resolution, permit vehicles to park
on the left-hand side of the roadway parallel to and within 18 inches
of the left-hand curb on two-way local residential streets that
dead-end with no cul-de-sac or other designated area in which to turn
around, if the  local authority   City of Long
Beach  has first made a finding, supported by a professional
engineering study, that the ordinance or resolution is justified by
the need to facilitate the safe and orderly movement of vehicles on
the roadways affected by the resolution or ordinance. The ordinance
or resolution may designate certain streets or portions of streets on
which the permission applies. The ordinance or resolution permitting
that parking shall not apply until signs or markings giving adequate
notice have been placed near the designated roadways.
   SEC. 2.    The Legislature finds and declares that a
special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made
applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the
California Constitution because Long Beach residents require safer
access into and out of the uniquely impacted streets, to decrease the
potential for "fender benders" and to give residents better access
to their homes and apartments.