BILL NUMBER: AB 1708 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 13, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gatto
FEBRUARY 15, 2012
An act to amend Section 515 of the Insurance Code, and to amend
Section 16028 Sections 4462 and 16028
of the Vehicle Code, relating to insurance
vehicles .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1708, as amended, Gatto. Insurance: proof: mobile
electronic device. Vehicles: electronic verification
of registration and insurance.
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 registration and proof of
financial responsibility be provided by a person driving a motor
vehicle. Existing
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 law
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 , and would
allow a person to provide evidence of financial responsibility,
under the circumstances described above, through the use of a
mobile electronic device . The bill would also allow a
person to provide electronic verification of evidence of registration
using a mobile electronic device to a peace officer.
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
an 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 subdivision (f) of Section
16028 of the Vehicle Code.
SEC. 2. Section 4462 of the
Vehicle Code is amended to read:
4462. (a) The driver of a motor vehicle shall present the
registration or identification card or other evidence of registration
or provide verification of evidence of registration using a
mobile electronic device, as defined in subdivision (f) of Section
16028, of any or all vehicles under his or her immediate
control for examination upon demand of any peace officer.
(b) No A person shall not
display upon a vehicle, nor or present
to any peace officer, any registration card, identification card,
temporary receipt, license plate, device issued pursuant to Section
4853, or permit not issued for that vehicle or not otherwise lawfully
used thereon under this code.
(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2001.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. 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 If 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 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 If 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.