BILL NUMBER: AB 45	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Hill

                        DECEMBER 6, 2010

   An act to amend Sections 5384.1 and 5384.5 of the Public Utilities
Code, and to add Section 40000.20 to the Vehicle Code, relating to
charter-party carriers of passengers.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 45, as amended, Hill. Charter-party carriers of passengers:
alcoholic beverages: open containers.
   The Passenger Charter-party Carriers' Act, with certain
exceptions, prohibits a charter-party carrier of passengers from
engaging in transportation services subject to regulation by the
Public Utilities Commission without obtaining a specified certificate
or permit, as appropriate, from the commission. The act, except as
specified, requires the driver of any limousine for hire operated by
a charter-party carrier of passengers (carrier) under a valid
certificate or permit to comply with prescribed requirements relating
to alcoholic beverages, including ascertaining whether any passenger
is under the age of 21 years, reading to the passenger a statement
that the consumption of any alcoholic beverage in the vehicle is
unlawful, requiring such a passenger to sign the statement, and, if a
minor passenger, after signing the statement, is found to be, or to
have been, consuming any alcoholic beverage during the course of the
ride, immediately terminating the contract of hire and returning the
passenger to the point of origin. The act also subjects the carrier
to specified civil penalties, based on the number of offenses, for
conviction of a driver, or any officer, director, agent, or employee
of the carrier, of a violation of the Vehicle Code that prohibits
storage of an opened container of an alcoholic beverage in a motor
vehicle.
   This bill would expand the application of those alcoholic beverage
provisions concerning passengers under the age of 21 years by
applying those requirements to the driver of any vehicle used in the
transportation of passengers for hire operated by a permitted or
certificated carrier. The bill would make the 3rd or subsequent
violation of the open container prohibition by a driver of any
vehicle used in the transportation of passengers for hire operating
under a valid certificate or permit  , or any officer,
director, agent, or employee of a carrier operating vehicles used in
the transportation of passengers for hire under such a certificate or
permit,  a misdemeanor. The bill, by creating a new crime,
would impose a state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the Brett
Studebaker Law.
  SEC. 2.  Section 5384.1 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
   5384.1.  (a) The driver of any vehicle used in the transportation
of passengers for hire operated by a charter-party carrier of
passengers under a valid certificate or permit shall do all of the
following:
   (1) The driver shall ascertain whether any passenger is under the
age of 21 years.
   (2) If any passenger is under the age of 21 years, the driver
shall read to the passenger a statement that the consumption of any
alcoholic beverage in the vehicle is unlawful, that no alcoholic
beverage may be transported in the passenger compartment of the
vehicle, that all alcoholic beverages are required to be carried in
the vehicle trunk or other locked compartment, and that, if during
the course of the ride any minor is found to be, or to have been,
consuming any alcoholic beverage, the contract will be terminated and
the customer will be brought back to the point of origin of the
ride.
   (3) After reading the statement described in paragraph (2) to
every passenger under the age of 21 years, the driver shall require
every passenger under the age of 21 years to sign the statement. The
operator of the vehicle shall retain the signed statement for the
period required by the commission.
   (4) If any minor passenger, after signing a statement pursuant to
paragraph (3), is found to be, or to have been, consuming any
alcoholic beverage during the course of any ride subject to this
section, the driver shall immediately terminate the contract of hire
and shall return the passengers to the point of origin of the ride.
   (b) Any failure of a driver to comply with subdivision (a) that
results in the conviction of the driver of a violation of Section
23225 of the Vehicle Code, shall be subject to the penalties
prescribed in Section 5384.5.
   (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this section does
not apply to the driver of any bus, taxicab, or van exempted from
this chapter pursuant to Section 5353, and it does not prohibit a
parent or legal guardian from consuming alcoholic beverages in a
vehicle used in the transportation of passengers for hire while
accompanied by his or her minor children.
  SEC. 3.  Section 5384.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
   5384.5.  If the driver of any vehicle used in the transportation
of passengers for hire operating under a valid certificate or permit,
or any officer, director, agent, or employee of a charter-party
carrier of passengers operating vehicles used in the transportation
of passengers for hire under such a certificate or permit, is
convicted of a violation of Section 23225 of the Vehicle Code, the
commission, after a hearing, shall do the following:
   (a) For a first offense, the commission may impose a civil penalty
of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) upon the carrier, as
determined appropriate by the commission.
   (b) For a second offense, the commission may impose a civil
penalty of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) upon the
carrier or suspend the carrier's permit for not more than 30 days, or
both, as determined appropriate by the commission.
   (c) For a third offense, the commission shall revoke the carrier's
permit. A third or subsequent offense shall also be punishable
pursuant to Section 40000.20 of the Vehicle Code.
  SEC. 4.  Section 40000.20 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
   40000.20.  A third or subsequent violation of Section 23225,
relating to storage of an opened container of an alcoholic beverage,
by a driver of any vehicle used in the transportation of passengers
for hire, operating under a valid certificate or permit pursuant to
the Passenger Charter-party Carriers' Act (Chapter 8 (commencing with
Section 5351) of Division 2 of the Public Utilities Code), 
or by any officer, director, agent, or employee of a charter-party
carrier of passengers operating vehicles used in the transportation
of passengers for hire under such a certificate or permit, is a
  is a  misdemeanor.
  SEC. 5.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.