BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair


          AB 902 (Gaines, B.) - Vehicles: "move-over" law fines.
          
          Amended: March 18, 2013         Policy Vote: T&H 11-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: Yes
          Hearing Date: June 24, 2013                             
          Consultant: Mark McKenzie       
          
          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File. 

          
          Bill Summary: AB 902 would increase the maximum base fine from  
          $50 to $100 for violations of the existing "move-over" law,  
          which requires a vehicle to change lanes when approaching a  
          stationary emergency vehicle, tow truck, or Caltrans vehicle  
          displaying emergency flashing lights.

          Fiscal Impact: Likely minor increased penalty revenues (General  
          Fund, various special funds).  While the bill increases the base  
          fine from $50 to $100, the maximum total penalty imposed on a  
          violator would increase from $279 to $489 when all penalty  
          assessments and fees are included.

          Background: SB 1610 (Simitian), Chap 375/2006, established the  
          move-over law, requiring drivers approaching a stationary  
          emergency vehicle or tow truck displaying flashing amber warning  
          lights on a freeway to approach with due caution and either  
          merge into an adjacent lane to open up a lane between traffic  
          and the stationary vehicle, if it is safe to do so, or slow to a  
          reasonable and prudent speed.  SB 240 (Wright), Chap 175/2009,  
          added Caltrans vehicles to the move-over law and clarified that  
          the requirements did not apply when the vehicle displaying  
          warning lights is either not adjacent to the freeway or is  
          separated by a physical barrier.  A violation of the move-over  
          law is an infraction punishable by a fine of up to $50.

          Proposed Law: AB 902 would increase the fine for a violation of  
          the move-over law to a maximum of $100.

          Staff Comments: This bill is intended to provide a greater  
          incentive for drivers to adhere to the requirements of the  
          move-over law.








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          The California Highway Patrol (CHP) only issued 106 citations  
          over the first two years following the enactment of the  
          move-over law, and a CHP report in 2009 indicated that there was  
          no absolute measurement to determine whether SB 1610 had an  
          impact on increasing the safety of emergency personnel or the  
          motoring public.  The low number of citations in the initial  
          period is likely due to the fact that officers engaged with  
          responding to an incident are not inclined to leave the scene to  
          issue citations to violators of the "move-over" law.  CHP  
          reports that it issued over 1,500 tickets last year, up from  
          1,200 in 2010.  The number of citations has increased as the law  
          was expanded to include Caltrans vehicles and CHP instituted a  
          practice of posting patrol cars on the sites of Caltrans  
          maintenance and construction to help with traffic control.