BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 895| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: SB 895 Author: Huff (R) Amended: 4/6/10 Vote: 27 - Urgency SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/13/10 AYES: Leno, Cogdill, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg, Wright SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 SUBJECT : Vehicles: drivers license: suspension SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill corrects a drafting error in a law passed last year to allow a person convicted of "driving under the influence" to get a restricted license after a specified period of time if he/she installs an ignition interlock device on his/her vehicle. ANALYSIS : Existing law that will become operative on July 1, 2010, authorizes a person who has been convicted of specified driving under the influence (DUI) offenses and has had his/her driving privilege suspended or revoked by the court to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for a restricted driver's license if specified conditions are met including that the person has installed an ignition interlock device (IID). (Vehicle Code Sections 13352, 13352.5, 23109, 23550, 23550.5, 23552, 23566, and CONTINUED SB 895 Page 2 23568.) Existing law provides that the DMV shall suspend the driving privilege of a person if the person was driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or more, or if the person was under 21 years of age and blood alcohol of 0.01 percent or more. If the person has had a prior driving in excess of the blood alcohol limits within 10 years, the length of suspension shall be for 24 months with ability to seek a restricted license within 12 months. (Vehicle Code Section 23542.) Existing law provides that an order to suspend a person's driving privilege by DMV shall become effective 30 days after the person is served with notice and specifies how long the suspension of the driving privilege shall last. (Vehicle Code Section 13353.3.) This bill clarifies that the DMV suspension shall terminate if the person has been convicted of the violation arising out of the same occurrence and the person is eligible for a restricted license upon the installation of an ignition interlock device and meets all other applicable conditions of a suspended license. Background Intent to Allow a Restricted License Sooner With IID Installation . The intent of SB 598 (Huff), Chapter 193, Statutes of 2009, was to allow a person to serve a shorter restricted license period upon the installation of an ignition interlock device (IID). While the law prior to SB 598 taking effect allows a person to get a restriction after 12 months, the idea was to shorten that time frame and get more people driving with a valid yet restricted license. Because of the confusing nature of the cross over between the administrative license suspension and the court license suspension, there were drafting errors in the bill that still required the person to serve their entire 12 month DMV suspension even if that suspension went beyond the post conviction suspension time in SB 598. This bill corrects that error by saying the administrative suspension will end when the requirements of SB 598 are met. The reality is many DUI offenders that fall under this bill and SB 895 Page 3 its predecessor will still end up serving close to, if not the full DMV administrative suspension because they are repeat offenders. Unless they offer a plea right away these cases can take months before they go to trial or a plea is entered. Prior Legislation SB 598 (Huff), 39-0, 9/10/09, Chapter 193, Statutes of 2009. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 4/26/10) PORAC Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, this bill is a clean-up bill which is needed in order to clarify the goal of SB 598 (Huff) from 2009 regarding restricted driver's license changes. The intent of SB 598 was to apply the restricted driver's license changes to both the administrative and criminal suspension of DUI conviction. The way the bill was drafted, however, the changes are only applied to the criminal suspension side of the process. A DUI offender who has had his/her driving privilege suspended by the DMV will still be required to serve out the one-year suspension. Existing law that will become operative on July 1, 2010, authorizes a person who has been convicted of a DUI offense who has had his/her driving privilege suspended or revoked to apply to the DMV for a restricted driver's license, if certain conditions, including that the person has installed an ignition interlock device, are met. Existing administrative law requires DMV to immediately suspend the driving privilege of a person under certain circumstances. SB 895 Page 4 This bill requires the one-year administrative suspension to terminate if the person has been convicted of a violation arising out of the same occurrence and the person meets specified conditions. Due to the fact that SB 598 of 2009 becomes operative July 1, 2010, this bill declares that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. RJG:do 4/26/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****