AB 755, as amended, Ammiano. Suicide barriers.
Existing law does not require bridges to be constructed with suicide barriers. Existing law requires a project study report or a project study report equivalent to be prepared prior to the inclusion of a transportation capital improvement project in the regional transportation improvement program, which is prepared by regional agencies, or the interregional transportation improvement program, which is prepared by the Department of Transportation. Existing law requires the California Transportation Commission to adopt the state transportation improvement program incorporating projects included in the regional transportation improvement program and the interregional transportation improvement program. Existing law also requires the department to prepare, for approval by the commission, a separate state highway operation and protection program for capital improvements that are necessary to preserve and protect the state highway system.
This bill would require a project study report or project study report equivalent that is prepared for any new project involving the construction or reconstruction of a bridge, as defined, that is included in the regional transportation improvement program, the interregional transportation improvement program, or the state highway operation and protection program to include a document demonstrating that a suicide barrier was a feature considered during the project’s planning process.
begin insertExisting law provides that where a public entity is under a mandatory duty imposed by an enactment that is designed to protect against the risk of a particular kind of injury, the public entity is liable for an injury of that kind proximately caused by its failure to discharge the duty unless the public entity establishes that it exercised reasonable diligence to discharge the duty.
end insertbegin insertThis bill would provide that it does not impose a mandatory duty in that regard. The bill would also provide that a public entity and its employees are not liable for an injury arising from the design, installation, or maintenance of a suicide barrier, or from the lack of a suicide barrier, on a bridge.
end insertVote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 14527.1 is added to the Government
2Code, to read:
(a) A project study report or project study report
4equivalent that is prepared for any new project involving the
5construction or reconstruction of a bridge, as defined in subdivision
6(b), included in a regional transportation improvement program,
7as described in Section 14527, the interregional transportation
8improvement program, as described in Section 14526, or the state
9highway operation and protection program, as defined in Section
1014526.5, shall include a document demonstrating that a suicide
11barrier was a feature considered for each bridge during the project’s
12planning process.
13(b) “Bridge” means a publicly owned bridge on the national
14highway system or the
federal-aid highway system, or off system,
15a publicly owned bridge classified as non-federal-aid highway
16system.
17(c) This section does not impose a mandatory duty pursuant to
18Section 815.6.
P3 1(d) A public entity and its employees shall not be liable for an
2injury arising from the design, installation, or maintenance of a
3suicide barrier, or from the lack of a suicide barrier, on a bridge.
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