BILL NUMBER: AB 1708	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gatto

                        FEBRUARY 15, 2012

   An act to amend Section 515 of the Insurance Code, and to amend
Section 16028 of the Vehicle Code, relating to insurance.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1708, as introduced, Gatto. Insurance: proof: mobile electronic
device.
   Existing law requires every driver and every owner of a motor
vehicle to be able to establish financial responsibility, and, at all
times, carry in the vehicle evidence of a form of financial
responsibility, which may be obtained by a law enforcement officer
from the electronic reporting system established by the Department of
Motor Vehicles. Existing law requires, upon the demand of a peace
officer, that evidence of financial responsibility be provided by a
person driving a motor vehicle. Existing law requires a driver who is
issued a notice to appear for any alleged violation of the Vehicle
Code or the driver of a motor vehicle involved in an accident to
furnish written evidence of financial responsibility. Existing
requires an insurer issuing policies of automobile liability
insurance or motor vehicle liability insurance, upon the request of
its insured or the Department of Motor Vehicles, to promptly issue
written verification as to the existence of that coverage.
   This bill would require an insurer issuing policies of automobile
liability insurance or motor vehicle insurance to issue, upon the
request of the insured, verification as to the existence of the
coverage to a mobile electronic device, as defined.
   The bill would allow a person required to provide evidence of
financial responsibility, under those circumstances, through the use
of a mobile electronic device.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 515 of the Insurance Code is amended to read:
   515.   (a)    Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, any insurer issuing policies of automobile
liability insurance or motor vehicle liability insurance shall, upon
request of either the named insured or the Department of Motor
Vehicles, promptly issue to that person or the department written
verification as to the existence of that coverage  , and issue,
upon the request of the insured, verification as to the existence of
that coverage, to a mobile electronic device  .
    (b)     For purposes of this section,
"mobile electronic device" has the same meaning as defined in Section
16028 of the Vehicle Code. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 16028 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   16028.  (a) Upon the demand of a peace officer pursuant to
subdivision (b) or upon the demand of a peace officer or traffic
collision investigator pursuant to subdivision (c), every person who
drives a motor vehicle upon a highway shall provide evidence of
financial responsibility for the vehicle that is in effect at the
time the demand is made.  The evidence of financial
responsibility may be provided using a mobile electronic device.
 However, a peace officer shall not stop a vehicle for the sole
purpose of determining whether the vehicle is being driven in
violation of this subdivision.
   (b) Whenever a notice to appear is issued for any alleged
violation of this code, except a violation specified in Chapter 9
(commencing with Section 22500) of Division 11 or any local ordinance
adopted pursuant  thereto   to that chapter
 , the cited driver shall furnish written evidence of financial
responsibility  or provide verification of evidence of financial
responsibility using a mobile electronic device  upon request of
the peace officer issuing the citation. The peace officer shall
request and write the driver's evidence of financial responsibility
on the notice to appear, except when the peace officer is unable to
write the driver's evidence of financial responsibility on the notice
to appear due to an emergency that requires his or her presence
elsewhere. If the cited driver fails to provide evidence of financial
responsibility at the time the notice to appear is issued, the peace
officer may issue the driver a notice to appear for violation of
subdivision (a). The notice to appear for violation of subdivision
(a) shall be written on the same citation form as the original
violation.
   (c) Whenever a peace officer, or a regularly employed and salaried
employee of a city or county who has been trained as a traffic
collision investigator, is summoned to the scene of an accident
described in Section 16000, the driver of any motor vehicle that is
in any manner involved in the accident shall furnish written evidence
of financial responsibility  or provide verification of evidence
of financial responsibility using a mobile electronic device 
upon the request of the peace officer or traffic collision
investigator. If the driver fails to provide evidence of financial
responsibility when requested, the peace officer may issue the driver
a notice to appear for violation of this subdivision. A traffic
collision investigator may cause a notice to appear to be issued for
a violation of this subdivision, upon review of that citation by a
peace officer.
   (d) (1) If, at the time a notice to appear for a violation of
subdivision (a) is issued, the person is driving a motor vehicle
owned or leased by the driver's employer, and the vehicle is being
driven with the permission of the employer, this section shall apply
to the employer rather than the driver. In that case, a notice to
appear shall be issued to the employer rather than the driver, and
the driver may sign the notice on behalf of the employer.
   (2) The driver shall notify the employer of the receipt of the
notice issued pursuant to paragraph (1) not later than five days
after receipt.
   (e) A person issued a notice to appear for a violation of
subdivision (a) may personally appear before the clerk of the court,
as designated in the notice to appear, and provide written evidence
of financial responsibility  or provide verification of evidence
of financial responsibility using a mobile electronic device  in
a form consistent with Section 16020, showing that the driver was in
compliance with that section at the time the notice to appear for
violating subdivision (a) was issued. In lieu of the personal
appearance, the person may submit by mail to the court written
evidence of having had financial responsibility at the time the
notice to appear was issued. Upon receipt by the clerk of that
written evidence of financial responsibility  or verification of
evidence of financial responsibility using a mobile electronic device
 in a form consistent with Section 16020, further proceedings
on the notice to appear for the violation of subdivision (a) shall be
dismissed. 
   (f) For purposes of this section, "mobile electronic device" means
a small, hand-held computing and communication device that has a
display screen with touch input or a miniature keyboard.