Amended in Assembly March 24, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 162

Introduced by Assembly Member Rodriguez

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez, Gonzalez, and Lackey)

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(Coauthor: Senator Anderson)

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January 21, 2015

An act to add and repeal Section 21651.1 of the Vehicle Code, relating to state highways.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 162, as amended, Rodriguez. State highways: wrong-way driving.

Existing law requires a vehicle to be driven on the right half of a roadway, subject to specified exceptions. On a highway that has been divided into 2 or more roadways by means of intermittent barriers or by means of specified kinds of dividing sections, existing law makes it unlawful to drive a vehicle on that highway, except to the right of the intermittent barrier or dividing section that separates 2 or more opposing lanes of traffic.

This bill would require the Department of Transportation, in consultation with the Department of begin delete Motor Vehicles end delete begin insert the California Highway Patrol end insert , to begin delete initiate a 12-month study end delete begin insert update a 1989 report end insert on wrong-way driving on state highways begin insert to account for technological advancements and innovation, to include a review of methods studied or implemented by other jurisdictions and entities to prevent wrong-way drivers from entering state highways, and to provide the report to specified legislative committees on or before January 1, 2017 end insert . The bill would require the begin delete study end delete begin insert report end insert to begin delete incorporate findings and recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislation, including solutions to reduce the number of instances of wrong-way driving and a proposed schedule for implementation of those solutions end delete begin insert identify any additional treatments and technologies with the potential to reduce the number of instances of wrong-way driving on state highways and to include a plan to incorporate those treatments and technologies into the Department of Transportation’s wrong way monitoring and mitigation program end insert . The bill would make related findings and declarations.

The bill would provide that its provisions are repealed as of January 1, 2021.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Wrong-way driving on state highways kills or injures
begin delete hundreds of end delete begin insert numerous end insert Californians each year.

(b) Accidents caused by wrong-way driving on highways are
more likely to result in fatal begin delete and end delete begin insert or end insert serious injuries than other types
of accidents.

(c)  begin delete From 2003 to 2012, drivers traveling the wrong way caused
436 fatal collisions and 5,006 injury collisions in California, as
reported by end delete begin insert According to end insert begin insert end insert the Department of the California Highway
Patrol begin insert , from 2001 to 2014, inclusive, a total of 193 fatal collisions
and 685 injury collisions occurred on state highways in this state
as a result of wrong-way driving end insert .

(d) Innovative countermeasures are needed to prevent drivers
from entering the highway the wrong way.

SEC. 2.  

Section 21651.1 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:

21651.1.  

(a) The Department of Transportation, in consultation
with the Department of begin delete Motor Vehicles end delete begin insert the California Highway
Patrol end insert , shall begin delete initiate a 12-month study on wrong-way driving on
state highways and shall provide, on or before January 1, 2017,
its recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Senate and the Assembly. The study shall
incorporate findings and any other information that the Department
of Transportation deems helpful. end delete begin insert update the June 1989 report
entitled “Prevention of Wrong-Way Accidents” prepared by the
Department of Transportation pursuant to Chapter 153 of the
Statutes of 1987. The update shall account for technological
advancements and innovation since publication of the 1989 report
and shall include a review of methods studied or implemented by
other jurisdictions, including state or local agencies within or
outside the state, and methods studied by nongovernmental entities
to prevent wrong-way drivers from entering state highways. The
updated report shall be provided to the Senate Committee on
Housing and Transportation and the Assembly Committee on
Transportation on or before January 1, 2017. end insert The begin delete study end delete begin insert report end insert
shall begin delete include proposed solutions end delete begin insert identify any additional treatments
and technologies with the potential end insert to reduce the number of
instances of wrong-way driving on state highways and begin delete a proposed
schedule for implementing those solutions. end delete begin insert shall include a plan
to incorporate those treatments and technologies into the
Department of Transportation’s wrong way monitoring and
mitigation program for the state highway system. end insert

(b) This section is repealed on January 1, 2021, pursuant to
Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.