BILL NUMBER: AB 497	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Block

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

   An act to amend Section 21058 of the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 497, as introduced, Block. Vehicles: high-occupancy vehicle
lanes: used by physicians.
   Existing law authorizes a physician when traveling in response to
an emergency call to be exempt from certain speed limit requirements,
as specified, if the vehicle being used by the physician displays an
insigne approved by the Department of Motor Vehicles indicating that
the vehicle is owned by a licensed physician.
   Existing law permits the Department of Transportation and local
authorities, with respect to highways under their respective
jurisdictions, to authorize exclusive use of highway lanes for a
high-occupancy vehicle (HOV).
   This bill would permit a physician to travel in HOV lanes, when
traveling in response to an emergency call, regardless of the number
of occupants in the vehicle, if that physician displays the insigne
approved by the Department of Motor Vehicles.
   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 21058 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   21058.  A physician traveling in response to an emergency call
shall be exempt from the provisions of  Sections
 21655.5,  22351  ,  and 22352 if the vehicle so
used by  him   the physician  displays an
insigne approved by the department indicating that the vehicle is
owned by a licensed physician. The provisions of this section do not
relieve the driver of the vehicle from the duty to drive with due
regard for the safety of all persons using the highway, nor protect
the driver from the consequences of an arbitrary exercise of the
privileges of this section.