BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 109
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: corbett
VERSION: 9/6/13
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: September 12, 2013
SUBJECT:
Limousines: emergency exits
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires that limousines for hire, which someone has
modified to increase the number of passengers they can carry,
shall have at least two doors and one or two push-out windows to
serve as emergency exits.
ANALYSIS:
Charter-party carriers of passengers are businesses that
transport persons by motor vehicle for compensation over the
public highways of California. Charter-party carriers are
principally charter bus and limousine companies. By definition,
they are not taxicabs, transit vehicles, school transportation
vehicles, or other specified transportation services.
Typically, charter-party carriers of passengers offer their
customers both a vehicle and driver to transport passengers on a
prearranged basis.
To operate as a charter-party carrier, the carrier must obtain
from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) a permit or
certificate, place identifying symbols or plates on its
vehicles, and acquire adequate liability insurance. The
charter-party carrier must renew its permit or certificate every
three years.
The PUC issues six different types of charter-party carrier
permits and certificates, depending on the type of vehicle
operated and types of transportation services offered. Three of
these encompass limousines, of which there are about 12,500
licensed to operate for charter-party carrier businesses in this
state. Limousines can be sedans or sport utility vehicles and
by definition seat fewer than ten passengers.
SB 109 (CORBETT) Page 2
Before the PUC can issue a permit or certificate, it must
require a business applying for or renewing the permit or
certificate to establish that it is reasonably fit and
financially responsible to conduct or continue to conduct
transportation services.
This bill :
1.Prohibits a charter-party carrier from operating a limousine
that someone has extended after manufacture to make the
vehicle longer so that it can carry more passengers unless the
vehicle is equipped with specified emergency exits that
include:
Two rear doors, one on each side of the vehicle, and for
a limousine modified after
July 1, 2015, one of these doors shall be located near the
driver's compartment and the other near the back of the
vehicle; and
Two rear push-out windows accessible to all passengers,
one on each side of the vehicle, unless the design
precludes installation of a push-out window on one side,
then the vehicle can instead have a push-out window located
on its roof. If it is not possible to install a push-out
window on either side, then the vehicle can have only the
roof push-out window. These windows shall meet California
Highway Patrol (CHP) standards for operability and
sufficiency.
1.These provisions apply beginning on July 1, 2015, for newly
modified limousines and then apply to all previously modified
limousines beginning January 1, 2016.
2.Requires that in any fire or other emergency requiring that
the passengers exit the limousine, the driver of a limousine
must unlock the doors so that the passengers can open them
from inside the vehicle.
3.Exempts from its provisions limousines manufactured before
1970 and permitted to operate as a charter-party carrier by
August 15, 2013, except those that someone modifies to
accommodate more passengers after August 15, 2013.
4.Requires an owner or operator of such a limousine to instruct
passengers on the vehicle's safety features and disclose
SB 109 (CORBETT) Page 3
whether the vehicle meets the requirements of this bill or if
it is exempt due to being manufactured prior to 1970.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author introduced this bill in response to an
incident that occurred on May 5, 2013, in which a limousine
caught fire while traveling on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge
over the San Francisco Bay. That limousine was carrying nine
passengers. The driver escaped unharmed and four of the
passengers escaped through the driver's partition. The five
other passengers died in the blaze. The author notes that the
location of the fire (at the rear of the vehicle) blocked
access to the only passenger doors, trapping the passengers
inside.
The only way to escape was to climb through the partition
window separating the passenger compartment from the driver.
There were no other exits and, thus, no way for all nine
passengers to successfully escape. According to the author,
this tragedy could have been prevented if there had simply
been another way to get out of the vehicle. This bill
requires limousines for hire that carry fewer than ten
passengers to have emergency exits.
2.Opposition . Writing in opposition, the Greater California
Livery Association questions the author's belief that if the
limousine in the San Mateo bridge fire had had a fifth or
sixth point of egress, fewer passengers would have died. The
association states that the opening of a door or a roof top
escape hatch would have introduced additional oxygen into the
vehicle and caused a massive explosion resulting in a worse
tragedy. The association notes that there are no engineering
studies on how to best achieve additional exits in six- to
nine-passenger limousines in such a way as to not compromise
the structural integrity of the vehicle and also no cost
estimates as to how expensive it will be to retrofit vehicles.
For these reasons, the association asks for a delayed
implementation date of 2019. The author rejected that request
and so the association remains opposed.
3.Concurrence hearing . This bill is back in the Senate on
concurrence and has been referred to this committee pursuant
to rule 29.10 because Assembly amendments add the provisions
that relate to charter-party carriers. As passed by the
Senate, the bill related to aerodynamic devices on vehicles.
SB 109 (CORBETT) Page 4
At today's 29.10 hearing, the committee may not amend the bill
further and may only hold the bill or return the bill to the
Senate floor.
RELATED LEGISLATION:
SB 338 (Hill) requires limousines to be equipped with a fire
extinguisher and requires the California Highway Patrol to
implement a limousine inspection program. Also being heard
today in this committee.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 49-28
Appr: 12-5
Trans: 10-3
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
September 11, 2013.)
SUPPORT: California Professional Firefighters
Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety
Public Utilities Commission
OPPOSED: Greater California Livery Association