BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 8|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 8
Author: Gatto (D)
Amended: 7/6/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 11-0, 6/30/15
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,
McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 7/14/15
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/17/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 6/2/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Emergency services: hit-and-run incidents
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill establishes the "Yellow Alert" notification
system and authorizes the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to
activate the system for certain hit-and-run incidents.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes use of the Emergency Alert System (EAS), a national
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public warning system that requires broadcasters and others to
promulgate important information for "AMBER Alerts," a program
designed to aid in the recovery of an abducted child or an
individual with a proven mental or physical disability when
all of the following conditions have been met:
a) A law enforcement agency determines that the victim is
in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death; and
b) There is information available that, if disseminated to
the general public, could assist in the safe recovery of
the victim.
1)Requires CHP, in consultation with others, to develop policies
and procedures to instruct agencies how to carry out an AMBER
Alert.
2)Authorizes use of the EAS for "Blue Alerts," a quick-response
system designed to issue and coordinate alerts when a law
enforcement officer has been killed or is seriously injured
and when all the following conditions have been met:
a) The suspect has fled the scene and poses an imminent
threat to public safety;
b) A detailed description of the suspect's vehicle or
license plate is available for broadcasting; and
c) There is information available that, if disseminated to
the general public, could help avert further harm or
accelerate apprehension of the suspect.
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1)Establishes a "Silver Alert" notification system, designed to
issue and coordinate alerts if a person that is age 65 years
or older, developmentally disabled, or cognitively impaired is
missing and if the following conditions have been met:
a) A law enforcement agency has used all available local
resources to locate the missing person;
b) The missing person is believed to be in danger because
of, for example, health or weather conditions; and
c) It has been determined that the public dissemination of
information may lead to a safe recovery of the missing
person.
This bill:
1)Establishes the "Yellow Alert" notification system and
authorizes CHP to activate the system for certain hit-and-run
incidents.
2)Defines a Yellow Alert as a notification designed to issue and
coordinate alerts that enlist the public in locating
hit-and-run suspects when a hit-and-run incident results in
death or injury.
3)Authorizes a law enforcement agency to request that CHP
activate a Yellow Alert if all of the following conditions are
met:
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a) There is an indication that a suspect has fled the scene
utilizing the state highway system;
b) Certain identifying information about the hit-and-run
suspect or the suspect's vehicle is available, such as a
complete license plate number or the identity of the
suspect; and
c) If law enforcement believes that public dissemination of
the available information will aid in apprehending the
suspect or averting further harm.
4)Authorizes the CHP, if it concurs that Yellow Alert activation
requirements are met, to issue a Yellow Alert via local
digital signs within the geographic area requested by the
investigating law enforcement agency.
5)Allows the CHP to prioritize activation of alerts based on any
factor.
6)Sunsets on January 1, 2019.
Comments
Purpose. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
reports that the number of hit-and-run accidents is increasing
nationally. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety,
one in five of all pedestrian fatalities involve hit-and-run
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accidents and 60% of hit-and-run fatalities have pedestrian
victims. Additionally, USA Today writes that in 2013 an
estimated 20,000 hit-and-run incidents occur each year in the
City of Los Angeles alone, and 4,000 of these incidents involved
injuries or death.
To address this problem, the author has introduced this bill,
which is modeled after legislation in Colorado (Medina Alert)
that has been instrumental in locating hit-and-run suspects.
Specifically, this bill would create a Yellow Alert notification
system, similar to California's successful AMBER Alert system,
that would authorize CHP to activate digital highway signage (as
well as other electronic messaging systems) when there is
information available to locate hit-and-run suspects. The
Yellow Alert notification system would provide the public with
information about the hit-and-run suspect and/or the suspect's
vehicle and request that the public be on the lookout and report
information to law enforcement.
Emergency alert system background. The nation's first AMBER
Alert was established in 1996, and named after 9-year-old Amber
Hagerman who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle and brutally
murdered in Arlington, Texas. The alert system was intended to
help inform local residents to search for a child who was
abducted nearby. AMBER is an acronym for America's Missing:
Broadcast Emergency Response.
The alerts were initially issued over broadcasting channels
designed to alert residents of dangerous weather events, but
since then they have grown to include highway billboard signs,
text messages, and other notification methods. Although the
federal government does not have direct control over the system,
several federal agencies have urged states to implement it. The
U.S. Department of Justice created an AMBER Alert page and
issued guidance to states to establish criteria before issuing
an alert, including that the victim be at risk of serious bodily
injury or death, that a sufficient description to be informative
is included, and that law enforcement must confirm there was an
abduction, among others.
California began the AMBER Alert as a regional program in 1999,
and in 2002 the Legislature passed AB 415 (Runner, Chapter 517),
establishing it statewide. As of February 2014, there have been
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219 activations in California, 255 recovered victims, and 131
suspects arrested. The CHP is responsible for statewide
coordination of the AMBER Alert system.
In 2010, SB 839 (Runner, Chapter 311) expanded the alert system
to include Blue Alerts, which allow the CHP to initiate a quick
response to coordinate alerts following an attack on a law
enforcement officer if the officer was killed, suffered serious
bodily injury, or was assaulted with a deadly weapon and the
suspect remains at large.
Finally, in 2012 the Legislature established the Silver Alert
program through SB 1047 (Alquist, Chapter 651), to coordinate
communication after the unexplained or suspicious disappearance
of an elderly person. The system is intended to provide
immediate attention to the public about the missing person,
including photographs, descriptions, and information about the
last time and location they were seen. The Legislature has
since expanded the program to include any developmentally
disabled or cognitively impaired individual that otherwise meets
the requirements, regardless of the person's age.
Are hit-and-runs appropriate for the alert system? For cases in
which current law authorizes an emergency alert, the primary
imperative is to prevent imminent danger. For an AMBER Alert to
be issued, a law enforcement agency must first assess if the
victim is "in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death"
and whether the widespread dissemination of pertinent
information to the public would assist in the safe recovery of
the victim. Similarly, a Silver Alert can only be issued when a
person 65 years of age or older or a developmentally disabled or
cognitively impaired individual is reported missing and
determined by the law enforcement agency to be in potential
danger due to age or a variety of other factors. Additionally,
an offending suspect needs to be considered an imminent threat
to the public or other law enforcement personnel before a Blue
Alert can be initiated after a violent attack on a law
enforcement officer. Alternatively, law enforcement suggests
that hit-and-run offenders typically try to hide and hope they
cannot be identified. This appears to be one example of how
hit-and-run incidents may not be appropriate for the alert
system.
Further, the inherent nature of hit-and-run incidents leads to
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information about the suspect or the suspect's vehicle being
unavailable or unverifiable. In a missing persons case, once a
law enforcement agency decides to request an AMBER or Silver
Alert, the agency often has access to an accurate description of
the missing person, if not a photograph or digital image, that
confers a high degree of certainty in the information being
disseminated to the public about the missing person. In
essence, it is easier to identify and verify the person for whom
the public should be on alert. For hit-and-run incidents, the
investigating law enforcement agency may have limited
information available that cannot be verified. If law
enforcement has the suspect's identifying information necessary
to institute a Yellow Alert, it seems reasonable that law
enforcement can use that information to apprehend the suspect
without needing to post the information on a changeable message
sign. Given this, it is unclear how hit-and-runs are
appropriate for the state's alert system.
Distracted driving concerns. A variety of constituencies have
conducted distracted driving studies focused on a number of
potential distractions. There are studies that use data to
prove illuminated billboards do not lead to negative outcomes,
and other studies that refute these conclusions. Nearly all
studies admit that, in most instances, it is very difficult to
identify one single factor that led to an adverse incident such
as an automobile accident. Research tends to show that
accidents arise from an accumulation of factors, including
distractions in the vehicle and outside, weather conditions, and
even distracting thoughts within the driver's mind.
It is clear, however, that billboards by their very nature
capture a driver's attention. Advertising is intended to
communicate a message to the recipient, which requires some
attention. One recent study of driver behavior conducted by the
Accident Research Center at Monash University concluded that
"the presence of billboards changed drivers' pattern of visual
attention, increased the amount of time needed for drivers to
respond to road signs, and increased the number of errors in the
driving task." Other studies using naturalistic driving data
have found that, of all the various distractions contributing to
poor driving outcomes, visual distraction is the primary concern
in driver distraction.
This bill proposes that the state use its digital billboards to
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advertise to the public an alert. While illuminated billboards
may not by themselves lead to adverse safety impacts, it is
clear that they contribute to the multiple distractions drivers
navigate each day. Adding distractions, especially ones that
are particularly effective at drawing one's attention, can only
increase the risk of negative outcomes. The question is not
whether these alerts on the state's changeable message signs
cause accidents and other negative consequences, but how many
distractions are enough to create an environment potentially too
risky and dangerous for people traveling from one place to
another.
Former CHP opposition. In a letter dated May 15, 2015, the CHP
Commissioner informed the author that CHP opposed this bill. On
August 25, 2015, the CHP informed the Senate that it no longer
opposes the bill. CHP was concerned that this bill would
significantly increase the total number of alerts displayed on
the state's changeable message signs. CHP asserts that this
will decrease the effectiveness of the AMBER Alert system, as it
will desensitize the public and reduce its attention to the most
serious child abduction cases for which the alert system is
currently deployed. The increased number of alerts could also
lead to increased driver distraction and more dangerous
highways. Recent amendments to the bill help address this
concern somewhat, as the bill now limits the number of Yellow
Alerts that might make it onto the state's changeable message
signs.
In addition, CHP expressed concern that nothing in statute
prioritizes the various alerts, and that can become problematic
for CHP if they are put in the position of determining which
alert to post on a changeable message sign when they get more
than one at a time. Recent amendments clarify that CHP can
prioritize alerts based on any factors they deem appropriate and
therefore address this concern.
Previously vetoed legislation. AB 47 (Gatto, 2014), which was
similar to this bill, was vetoed by Governor Brown on the
grounds that similar legislation adding developmentally disabled
persons to the alert system had just been signed. The Governor
pointed out in his veto message that expansion of the system
should be tested before other categories of individuals are
added.
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Related Legislation
AB 47 (Gatto, 2014) - which was similar to this bill, was vetoed
by Governor Brown. The Governor pointed out in his veto message
that expansion of the system should be tested before other
categories of individuals are added.
SB 1127 (Torres, Chapter 440, Statutes of 2014) included a
missing person who is developmentally disabled or cognitively
impaired among persons who may be the subject of a Silver Alert.
SB 1047 (Alquist, Chapter 651, Statutes of 2012) established
California's Silver Alert System.
SB 839 (Runner, Chapter 311, Statutes of 2010) established
California's Blue Alert System.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill will
incur estimated one-time CHP costs of approximately $100,000 to
develop policies and procedures, provide training, and develop
resource materials for staff and law enforcement agencies for
the new alert; non-reimbursable local law enforcement costs to
determine whether specified conditions are met in order to
request activation of a Yellow Alert; and minor and absorbable
ongoing CHP costs to confirm specified conditions are met and
issue Yellow Alerts on changeable message signs.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/18/15)
ABATE of California
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Motorcyclist Association
Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs
California Bicycle Coalition
California Council of the Blind
California Police Chiefs Association
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California State Firefighters' Association
California Walks
City of Los Angeles, Office of the Mayor
Emergency Nurses Association
Inland Empire Biking Alliance
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
Los Angeles Walks
Matco Inc. Construction and Restoration
Nick's Computer Works
People Power of Santa Cruz County
Rails to Trails Conservancy
Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates
Safe Routes to School National Partnership
San Diego County Bicycle Coalition
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition
Shasta Living Streets
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition
Transportation Authority of Marin
Walk and Bike Mendocino
Walk San Francisco
15 individuals
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/26/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 6/2/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez
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Prepared by:Eric Thronson / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
8/26/15 10:33:40
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