BILL NUMBER: AB 45	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 14, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 9, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 11, 2011
	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 amend Section 23229.1 of, 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
  21 years of age  by applying those requirements,
except as specified, to the driver of any vehicle  used in
the transportation of passengers   providing charter bus
transportation  for hire operated by a permitted or
certificated carrier  when the driver knows, or has reasonable
reason to believe, that alcoholic beverages are, or will be,
transported on the bus and accessible to passengers. The bill would
authorize a driver that terminates a contract of hire because of a
minor's consumption of alcohol, rather than dropping off the
offending passengers and their party at the point of origin of the
ride, to drop the offending passengers and their party off at the
customer's home, nearest police station, or any other point mutually
agreed to by both parties, as long as the conditions are safe for the
driver  . The bill would subject  such a  
the  driver  providing charter bus transportation  to
existing open container prohibitions and make the 3rd or subsequent
violation of a specified open container prohibition by a driver of
any vehicle used in the transportation of passengers for hire
operating under a valid 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   limousine  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   21 years of age  .
   (2) If any passenger is under  the age of 21 years
  21 years of age  , 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  or, at
the option of the driver, dropped off at the customer's home, 
 nearest police station, or any other point mutually agreed to by
both parties, as long as the conditions are safe for the driver
 .
   (3) After reading the statement described in paragraph (2) to
every passenger under  the age of 21 years   21
years of age  , the driver shall require every passenger under
 the age of 21 years   21 years of age  to
sign the statement. The  operator of the vehicle 
 limousine operator  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   offending
passengers and their party  to the point of origin of the ride
 or, at the option of the driver, dropped off at the customer's
home, nearest police station, or any other point mutually agreed to
by both parties, as long as the conditions are safe for the 
 driver  . 
   (b) The driver of a vehicle providing charter bus transportation,
as defined in Section 5363, for hire operated by a charter-party
carrier of passengers under a valid certificate or permit shall do
all of the following when the driver knows, or has reasonable reason
to believe, that alcoholic beverages are, or will be, transported on
the bus and accessible to passengers:  
   (1) The driver shall ascertain whether any passenger is under 21
years of age.  
   (2) If any passenger is under 21 years of age, the driver shall
read to the passenger a statement that the consumption of any
alcoholic beverage in the bus is unlawful, that no alcoholic beverage
may be transported in the passenger compartment of the bus, 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 or, at the
option of the driver, dropped off at the customer's home, nearest
police station, or any other point mutually agreed to by both
parties, as long as the conditions are safe for the driver. 

   (3) After reading the statement described in paragraph (2) to
every passenger under 21 years of age, the driver shall require every
passenger under the age of 21 years to sign the statement. The
driver 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 offending passengers and their party to the
point of origin of the ride or, at the option of the driver, dropped
off at the customer's home, nearest police station, or any other
point mutually agreed to by both parties, as long as the conditions
are safe for the driver.  
   (b) 
    (c)  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) 
    (d)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this
section does not prohibit a parent or legal guardian from consuming
alcoholic beverages in a vehicle  used in the transportation
  charter-party carrier  of passengers for hire
while accompanied by his or her minor children. 
   (d) 
    (e)  This section does not apply to the driver of any of
the following:
   (1) A bus, taxicab, or van exempted from this chapter pursuant to
Section 5353.
   (2) A pupil activity bus, including any motor vehicle specified in
subdivision (k) of Section 545 of the Vehicle Code.
   (3) A school pupil activity bus, as defined in Section 546 of the
Vehicle Code. 
   (4) A vehicle for a charter-party carrier that has been engaged to
provide transportation for minors accompanied by a legal guardian or
parent. 
  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   charter-party carrier  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 certificate or 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
certificate or permit. A third or subsequent offense shall also be
punishable pursuant to Section 40000.20 of the Vehicle Code.
  SEC. 4.  Section 23229.1 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   23229.1.  (a) Subject to subdivision (b), Sections 23223 and 23225
apply to any charter-party carrier of passengers, as defined in
Section 5360 of the Public Utilities Code, operating  a
vehicle used in the transportation of passengers  for hire
when the driver of the vehicle transports any passenger under
 the age of 21   21 years of age  .
   (b) For purposes of subdivision (a), it is not a violation of
Section 23225 for any charter-party carrier of passengers operating
 a vehicle used in the transportation of passengers 
for hire that is licensed pursuant to the Public Utilities Code to
keep any bottle, can, or other receptacle containing any alcoholic
beverage in a locked utility compartment within the area occupied by
the driver and passengers.
   (c) In addition to the requirements of Section 1803, every clerk
of a court in which any driver in subdivision (a) was convicted of a
violation of Section 23225 shall prepare within 10 days after
conviction, and immediately forward to the Public Utilities
Commission at its office in San Francisco, an abstract of the record
of the court covering the case in which the person was convicted. If
sentencing is not pronounced in conjunction with the conviction, the
abstract shall be forwarded to the commission within 10 days after
sentencing, and the abstract shall be certified, by the person
required to prepare it, to be true and correct. For the purposes of
this subdivision, a forfeiture of bail is equivalent to a conviction.

  SEC. 5.  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), is a
misdemeanor.
  SEC. 6.  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.