BILL ANALYSIS AB 1942 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 19, 2010 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair AB 1942 (Fletcher) - As Introduced: February 17, 2010 SUBJECT : Video event recorder: vehicle windshields SUMMARY : Provides that a video event recorder with the capability of monitoring driver performance may be mounted in a seven-inch square in the lower corner of a vehicle windshield farthest from the driver or in a five-inch square in the lower corner on the windshield nearest the driver and outside of an airbag deployment zone. EXISTING LAW: 1)Generally prohibits any person from driving a motor vehicle with any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied on the windshield or side or rear windows that obstructs or reduces the driver's clear view, with exceptions. These exceptions include global positioning system devices and electronic toll transponders. 2)Requires vehicle manufacturers to disclose in the owner's manual whenever a vehicle sold or leased in California is equipped with one or more recording devices commonly referred to as "event data recorders" or "sensing and diagnostic modules;" defines "recording devices" as those that: a) Record how fast and in which direction the motor vehicle is traveling; b) Record a history of where the motor vehicle travels; c) Record steering performance; d) Record brake performance, including, but not limited to, whether brakes were applied before an accident; e) Record the driver's seat belt status; and, f) Have the ability to transmit information concerning an accident in which the motor vehicle has been involved to a central communications system at the moment the accident AB 1942 Page 2 occurs. 3)Provides that data recorded on a recording device may not be downloaded or otherwise retrieved by a person other than the registered owner of the motor vehicle, except under specific conditions. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : The author introduced this bill to reduce motor vehicle deaths by allowing the use of video event recorders that can lead to safe driving habits and reduced accidents. Studies of both teens and commercial drivers found that the use of video event recorders, paired with behavioral coaching, improved driver safety and reduced accidents. Video event recorders typically are operated on a loop and only save recordings in events such as quick stops or accidents. The records are used to analyze a driver's actions during the events to coach positive driving behavior. The American Civil Liberties Union, while not opposed to AB 1942, expressed a number of privacy concerns with this bill, including: 4)The bill should state explicitly that the recorder data belongs to the vehicle owner. 5)An employee driver should be given the opportunity to consent or refuse to consent to the use of the event data recorder in the vehicle he or she drives. 6)The vehicle owner should have the ability to disable the video event recorder and the ability to turn it off and on. 7)Data collection should be restricted to 30 seconds prior to and after the event that triggers the video event recorder. Author's amendments : The author intends to take the following amendments in committee to provide more specificity to eligible uses of the video event recorder as well as to the technology that will be allowed: 8)Add to the reasons for which a video event recorder can be used to include the capacity to monitor driver performance to improve driver safety. AB 1942 Page 3 9)Define "video event recorder" to mean a video recorder that continuously records in a digital loop, recording audio, video, and G-force levels, but only saves video when triggered by an unusual motion or crash or when operated by the driver to monitor driver performance. Previous legislation : AB 213 (Leslie) Chapter 427, Statutes of 2003, requires a manufacturer of a new motor vehicle sold or leased in this state that is equipped with one or more recording devices, commonly referred to as ''event data recorders (EDR)'' or ''sensing and diagnostic modules (SDM),'' to disclose that fact in the owner's manual for the vehicle. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support DriveCam MACTEC Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093