BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1942| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1942 Author: Fletcher (R) Amended: 8/2/10 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/29/10 AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, DeSaulnier, Harman, Kehoe, Pavley, Simitian, Wolk NO VOTE RECORDED: Ashburn SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 69-1, 5/17/10 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Windshield: video event recorder SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill authorizes the placement of video event recorders in vehicles. ANALYSIS : Existing state 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; CONTINUED AB 1942 Page 2 Sun visors 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 seven-inch square in the lower corner farthest removed from the driver or in the five-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 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. CONTINUED AB 1942 Page 3 Existing law prohibits the audio recording of persons without the expressed consent of all parties involved. This bill: 1 Authorizes the placement of video event recorders on specified areas of a vehicle windshield. 2. 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. 3. Requires a vehicle equipped with a video event recorder have a notice posted in a visible location which states that a passenger's conversation may be recorded. 4. Requires video event recorders store no more than 30 seconds before or after a triggering event. 5. Provides that the registered owner or lessee of the vehicle may disable the video event recorder, and that the data recorded to the device is the property of the registered owner or lessee. 6. Provides when a person is driving for hire as an employee in a vehicle with a video event recorder, the employer is required to provide unedited copies of the recordings upon request. The copies shall be provided for free and within five days of the request. Same as GPS requirements . This bill stipulates that the event recorder must be placed in a seven-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest removed from the driver or in a five-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. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes SUPPORT : (Verified 8/3/10) CONTINUED AB 1942 Page 4 California State Sheriffs' Association DriveCam Lloyd Pest Control MV Transit OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/3/10) American Civil Liberties Union ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : 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 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. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The American Civil Liberties Union writes: "Windshield mounted video event recorders involves video taping the individual who is driving as well as the area in front of the vehicle. The fundamental right to privacy was added by voter initiative to Article I, Section 1 of the California Constitution. While we understand the need for driver safety, we do not believe that there has been sufficient evidence to demonstrate the need to allow the installation of cameras continuously trained on employees and other drivers." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De CONTINUED AB 1942 Page 5 La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, John A. Perez NOES: Ammiano NO VOTE RECORDED: Bass, Tom Berryhill, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Furutani, Monning, Silva, Torlakson, Yamada, Vacancy JJA:mwk 8/10/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED