BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 902
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Beth gaines
VERSION: 3/18/13
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 11, 2013
SUBJECT:
Move-over law
DESCRIPTION:
This bill increases the maximum base fine to $100 for violating
the state's move-over law, making the maximum total penalty
$489.
ANALYSIS:
SB 1610 (Simitian), Chapter 375, Statutes of 2006, established
the "move-over" law and required that until January 1, 2010, a
person driving a vehicle on a freeway that is approaching a
stationary emergency vehicle displaying its emergency lights or
a stationary tow truck displaying its flashing amber warning
lights to approach with due caution and proceed to do one of the
following:
(a) Make a lane change into an available lane not immediately
adjacent to the authorized emergency vehicle or tow truck with
due regard for safety and traffic conditions, if practicable
and not prohibited by law; or
(b) If the maneuver described in (a) would be unsafe or
impracticable, slow to a reasonable and prudent speed that is
safe for existing weather, road, and vehicular or pedestrian
traffic conditions.
SB 1610 also provided that until January 1, 2010, a tow truck
shall not display flashing amber warning lamps on a freeway
except when "an unusual traffic hazard or extreme hazard
exists."
SB 1610 required the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to report
to the Legislature by January 1, 2009 on the law's effect on the
AB 902 (BETH GAINES) Page 2
safety of emergency responders and on the motoring public. CHP
issued this report in 2009, and then SB 159 (Simitian), Chapter
33, Statutes of 2009, made the provisions of SB 1610 permanent.
SB 240 (Wright), Chapter 175, Statutes of 2009, added Department
of Transportation (Caltrans) vehicles displaying flashing amber
warning lights to the move-over law. It also clarified that the
move-over law does not apply when a vehicle displaying flashing
lights is either not adjacent to the freeway or is separated
from the freeway by a protective physical barrier. Existing law
predating the move-over law permits highway maintenance vehicles
to display their flashing amber lights "when parked or working
on the highway."
Beginning with SB 1610, state law set a base fine of not more
than $50 for move-over violations. A $50 base fine results in a
total penalty of $284.
This bill increases the maximum base fine for a move-over
violation from $50 to $100, thus increasing the maximum total
penalty from $279 to $489.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author notes that according to a study that the
National Safety Commission sponsored, 71% of Americans have
not heard of the move-over law. She further asserts that many
who are aware of the law choose to ignore it because the fine
associated with violating the law is not sufficiently high to
create an incentive to obey the move-over law. She introduced
this bill to increase the fine and thus provide a greater
incentive to adhere to the law.
2.Driver education . In the first few years after SB 1610
originally created this state's move-over law, CHP reported
issuing few tickets (only 106 citations over two years.) This
was a very low number, especially given that casual
observation at the time suggested that the law was not widely
observed. At that time the law included emergency vehicles
and tow trucks, but not Caltrans vehicles. CHP noted then in
explanation of the low number of citations that officers on
the scene of an incident are busy with that incident and
therefore not able to leave the scene to issue citations. CHP
and others, however, later initiated a driver education
campaign about the move-over law. Over time, compliance with
the law has increased. Given the author's concerns, now, it
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may be more appropriate to initiate a greater campaign to
educate drivers about the move-over law rather than simply to
increase the punishment and hope that the thousand or so
Californians who pay it annually will complain sufficiently to
spread the word.
3.CHP report under original law . In 2009, the CHP issued its
report required under SB 1610 and concluded that "there is no
absolute measurement to determine what impact SB 1610 has had
on increasing the safety of emergency personnel and/or the
motoring public. However, despite the one-year data
comparison, the new law appears to have had a positive effect
by reducing collisions and injuries involving stopped
emergency vehicles and tow trucks."
CHP drew this conclusion by comparing accident data for 2006,
before SB 1610 took effect, and for 2007, the first year it
was in effect. CHP's accident data, however, does not always
differentiate between freeways and other roads, nor does it
record whether a vehicle's emergency lights were displayed.
Finally, SB 1610 also enacted a provision that made it illegal
to operate a vehicle in an unsafe manner within an emergency
incident zone, which state law defines as an area within 500
feet and in the same direction of travel as a stopped
emergency vehicle that has its emergency lights activated.
CHP was unable to separate the effect of this provision from
the move-over law in determining the decrease in accidents.
4.Citations issued . CHP reports that last year it issued over
1,500 tickets for violating the move-over law, up from 1,200
in 2010, and reflecting a steady increase over the years since
SB 1610 created California's original move-over law. The
number of citations issued has increased, as one would expect,
since the law was expanded to include Caltrans' vehicles.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 75-0
Appr: 17-0
Trans: 16-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 5,
2013.)
SUPPORT: California Tow Truck Association
AB 902 (BETH GAINES) Page 4
OPPOSED: None received.