BILL ANALYSIS SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 1942 SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Fletcher VERSION: 2/17/10 Analysis by: Meegen Murray FISCAL: no Hearing date: June 22, 2010 SUBJECT: Windshield: video event recorder DESCRIPTION: This bill would authorize the placement of video event recorders in vehicles. ANALYSIS: Existing California law prohibits a person from driving any motor vehicle with any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied upon the windshield, the rear window, or side windows adjacent to the driver. Existing law makes exceptions for the following: Rearview mirrors; Sunvisors that are not mounted on the windshield glass; Electronic toll communication devices affixed to the center uppermost portion of the interior of the windshield within an area that is not greater than 5 inches square (e.g., FasTrak transponders); Transparent material applied to the top most portion of the windshield (i.e., tinting); Stickers and global positioning systems that are displayed on the windshield in the 7-inch square in the lower corner farthest removed from the driver or in the 5-inch square in the lower corner nearest the driver (e.g., parking and oil change decals). Existing law requires vehicle manufacturers to disclose in the AB 1942 (FLETCHER) Page 2 owner's manual that a vehicle is equipped with one or more recording devices commonly referred to as "event data recorders." Existing law defines "recording devices" as those that: Record how fast and in which direction the motor vehicle is traveling; Record a history or where the motor vehicle travels; Record steering performance; Record brake performance, including but not limited to, whether brakes were applied before an accident; Record the driver's seat belt status; and 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 occurs. Existing law prohibits downloading or retrieving data recorded on a recording devise by a person other than the registered owner of the motor vehicle, except under specific conditions. Existing law prohibits the audio recording of persons without the expressed consent of all parties involved. This bill authorizes the placement of video event recorders on specified areas of a vehicle windshield. Additionally, the bill defines "video event recorder" to mean a video recorder that continuously records in a digital loop, recording audio, video, and G-force levels, but saves video only when triggered by an unusual motion or crash or when operated by the driver to monitor driver performance. COMMENTS: 1) Purpose of the bill . 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. Video event recorders for vehicles capture high definition videos, both of the front of the vehicle and the rear, using a dual camera device and record when an event occurs, including accidents or aggressive driving behavior. The videos are stored on internal memory together with other AB 1942 (FLETCHER) Page 3 information such as G-force values, GPS coordinates, date, time, and more. 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. 2) Same as GPS requirements . This bill stipulates that the event recorder must be placed in a 7-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest removed from the driver or in a 5-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield nearest of the driver and outside of an airbag deployment zone. These stipulations mirror identically the requirements currently in place for a portable GPS. 3) Teamsters opposition . The Teamsters believe the bill needs to be amended to protect the reasonable rights of their members who drive commercial vehicles. They argue that an employee driver or driver's representative (union representative or attorney) must be given unedited copies of the recordings at no cost and no later than 5 days from the request. Additionally, they argue that the owner must have the right to disable the video event recorder and the ability to turn it off and on and that the data should be restricted to 30 seconds before and after the triggering event. 4) Video only . The American Civil Liberties Union while agreeing with the Teamsters also would also like the bill limited to video only, citing that audio generally requires consent of all parties to a conversation. It would be difficult if impossible to ensure that all passengers or parties in a vehicle have given their expressed consent to be audio recorded at all times. The author or committee may wish to amend the bill to clarify that these recording devices be limited to video only. Assembly Votes: Floor: 69 - 1 Trans: 13 - 1 POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on Wednesday, June 16, 2010) AB 1942 (FLETCHER) Page 4 SUPPORT: California State Sheriffs' Association DriveCam MACTEC OPPOSED: American Civil Liberties Union California Teamsters Public Affairs Council