BILL NUMBER: SB 869 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 20, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Yee
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Section 9884.76 to amend
Sections 9884.7 and 9889.3 o f the Business and
Professions Code, and to amend Section 27317 of the Vehicle Code,
relating to automotive repair dealers.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 869, as amended, Yee. Automotive repair dealers: airbags.
Existing law, the Automotive Repair Act, establishes the Bureau of
Automotive Repair under the supervision and control of the Director
of Consumer Affairs. Existing law provides that a person who
fails to comply with the act is guilty of a misdemeanor and
punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000, by imprisonment not
exceeding 6 months, or by both that fine and imprisonment, except as
specified.
This bill would provide that an automotive repair dealer who
prepares a written estimate for repairs that includes replacement of
a deployed airbag, as specified, who fails to repair and fully
restore the airbag, as specified, is guilty of a misdemeanor that is
punishable by a $5,000 fine, by one year imprisonment in a county
jail, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
Existing specifies grounds for which the
director may deny, suspend, revoke, or place on probation the
registration of an automotive repair dealer or the license of an
official lamp and brake adjusting station. Existing law
provides that a person who knowingly installs or reinstalls for
compensation, or who distributes or sells, any previously deployed
airbag is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $5,000
, or confinement in a county jail for one year , or
by both that fine and confinement.
This bill would exempt from that misdemeanor provision an
automotive repair dealer who complies with the above provision
regarding the repair and restoration of a deployed airbag
add to those grounds for action by the director a conviction of
a violation of that misdemeanor provision. The bill would in addition
provide that a person who undertakes for compensation to repair a
vehicle's inflatable restraint system and who fails to restore it to
its original operating condition is guilty of a misdemeanor subject
to the same punishment .
Because this bill would create a new crime, the bill would create
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. Section 9884.76 is added to the
Business and Professions Code, to read:
9884.76. Notwithstanding Section 9889.20, an automotive repair
dealer who prepares a written estimate for repairs pursuant to
Section 9884.9 that includes replacement of a deployed airbag that is
part of an inflatable restraint system, and who fails to repair and
fully restore the airbag that is part of an inflatable restraint
system to its original operating condition, where the customer has
paid for the airbag as provided in the estimate, is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or
by imprisonment in a county jail for one year or by both that fine
and imprisonment.
SEC. 2. 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.
SECTION 1. Section 9884.7 of the
Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
9884.7. (a) The director, where the automotive repair dealer
cannot show there was a bona fide error, may deny, suspend, revoke,
or place on probation the registration of an automotive repair dealer
for any of the following acts or omissions related to the conduct of
the business of the automotive repair dealer, which are done by the
automotive repair dealer or any automotive technician, employee,
partner, officer, or member of the automotive repair dealer.
(1) Making or authorizing in any manner or by any means whatever
any statement written or oral which is untrue or misleading, and
which is known, or which by the exercise of reasonable care should be
known, to be untrue or misleading.
(2) Causing or allowing a customer to sign any work order that
does not state the repairs requested by the customer or the
automobile's odometer reading at the time of repair.
(3) Failing or refusing to give to a customer a copy of any
document requiring his or her signature, as soon as the customer
signs the document.
(4) Any other conduct that constitutes fraud.
(5) Conduct constituting gross negligence.
(6) Failure in any material respect to comply with the provisions
of this chapter or regulations adopted pursuant to it.
(7) Any willful departure from or disregard of accepted trade
standards for good and workmanlike repair in any material respect,
which is prejudicial to another without consent of the owner or his
or her duly authorized representative.
(8) Making false promises of a character likely to influence,
persuade, or induce a customer to authorize the repair, service, or
maintenance of automobiles.
(9) Having repair work done by someone other than the dealer or
his or her employees without the knowledge or consent of the customer
unless the dealer can demonstrate that the customer could not
reasonably have been notified.
(10) Conviction of a violation of Section 551 of the Penal Code.
(11) Conviction of a violation of Section 27317 of the Vehicle
Code.
Upon denying a registration, the director shall notify the
applicant thereof, in writing, by personal service or mail addressed
to the address of the applicant set forth in the application, and the
applicant shall be given a hearing under Section 9884.12 if, within
30 days thereafter, he or she files with the bureau a written request
for hearing, otherwise the denial is deemed affirmed.
(b) Except as provided for in subdivision (c), if an automotive
repair dealer operates more than one place of business in this state,
the director pursuant to subdivision (a) shall only suspend, revoke,
or place on probation the registration of the specific place of
business which has violated any of the provisions of this chapter.
This violation, or action by the director, shall not affect in any
manner the right of the automotive repair dealer to operate his or
her other places of business.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the director may suspend,
revoke, or place on probation the registration for all places of
business operated in this state by an automotive repair dealer upon a
finding that the automotive repair dealer has, or is, engaged in a
course of repeated and willful violations of this chapter, or
regulations adopted pursuant to it.
SEC. 2. Section 9889.3 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
9889.3. The director may suspend, revoke, or take other
disciplinary action against a license as provided in this article if
the licensee or any partner, officer, or director thereof:
(a) Violates any section of the Business and Professions Code that
relates to his or her licensed activities.
(b) Is convicted of any crime substantially related to the
qualifications, functions, or duties of the licenseholder in
question.
(c) Violates any of the regulations promulgated by the director
pursuant to this chapter.
(d) Commits any act involving dishonesty, fraud, or deceit whereby
another is injured.
(e) Has misrepresented a material fact in obtaining a license.
(f) Aids or abets an unlicensed person to evade the provisions of
this chapter.
(g) Fails to make and keep records showing his or her transactions
as a licensee, or fails to have the records available for inspection
by the director or his or her duly authorized representative for a
period of not less than three years after completion of any
transaction to which the records refer, or refuses to comply with a
written request of the director to make the record available for
inspection.
(h) Violates or attempts to violate the provisions of this chapter
relating to the particular activity for which he or she is licensed.
(i) Is convicted of a violation of Section 551 of the Penal Code.
(j) Is convicted of a violation of Section 27317 of the Vehicle
Code.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Section 27317 of the
Vehicle Code is amended to read:
27317. Except as provided by Section 9884.76 of the
Business and Professions Code, any Any person
who installs or reinstalls for compensation, or who distributes or
sells, any previously deployed airbag that is part of an inflatable
restraint system, if the person knows that the airbag has been
previously deployed, or who undertakes for compensation to
repair a vehicle's inflatable restraint system and who fails to
restore it to its original operating condition is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or
by confinement in a county jail for one year or by both that fine
and confinement.
SEC. 4. 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.