BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 198


                                                                    Page  1





          Date of Hearing:  March 23, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION


                                 Jim Frazier, Chair


          AB 198  
          (Frazier) - As Introduced January 28, 2015


          SUBJECT:  Vehicles:  tow truck assistance


          SUMMARY:  Enables an authorized tow truck operator to use the  
          center median or right shoulder of a highway in the event of an  
          emergency that requires the immediate removal of traffic  
          impediments, if specific conditions are met.  


          EXISTING LAW:  


          1)Prohibits a person who has full control of a vehicle from  
            stopping, parking, or leave standing the vehicle upon a  
            freeway, as specified. 


          2)Exempts tow truck operators authorized by the California  
            Highway Patrol (CHP) from the abovementioned prohibitions for  
            purposes of rapid removal of impediments to freeway traffic.    



          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown 










                                                                     AB 198


                                                                    Page  2





          COMMENTS:  Extensive research has found traffic congestion to  
          have negative economic and social impacts on motorists  
          including, productivity loss, tardiness (employment, meetings,  
          business appointments), vehicle wear and tear, motorist road  
          rage, and loss of fuel.  For example, the federal Department of  
          Transportation has reported that motorists burn more than 2.8  
          billion gallons of gasoline every year while stuck in traffic.   
          In California, highway traffic congestion and travel delays are  
          an everyday occurrence for motorist.  A report released by the  
          Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) found California's  
          highways to be the busiest in the country.  Overall, along with  
          Interstates 10 and 110 ranking in the top 10, the study found  
          Interstate 5 to be the busiest Interstate in the country and  
          additionally found the Los Angeles section of Interstate 405 to  
          be the busiest Interstate in any American city.     


          While traffic congestion is caused by a variety of factors, one  
          of the most frequent causes are vehicle impediments such as  
          vehicle break downs, abandoned vehicles, and vehicle collisions.  
           Many times, these types of impediments may partially block a  
          highway or require lane closures for vehicle removal resulting  
          in significant travel delays.  In one study, the National  
          Highway Traffic Safety Administration (2014) concluded that  
          traffic congestion tied to vehicle collisions cost motorists $28  
          billion annually.  Additional studies have shown that every one  
          minute of delay caused by a traffic incident results in four  
          minutes of congestion delay.  In California, accident data  
          reports that in 2012, approximately 69,000 vehicle injury  
          collisions occurred during peak commute times.  


          In response, FHWA developed the Traffic Incident Management  
          Program (TIM) in collaboration with a number of state and local  
          stakeholders involved in highway incident response and traffic  
          management.  Housed under FHWA's Office of Transportation  
          Operations, TIM consists of a planned and coordinated  
          multi-disciplinary process to detect, respond to, and clear  
          traffic incidents so that traffic flow may be restored as safely  








                                                                     AB 198


                                                                    Page  3





          and quickly as possible. TIM's end goal is to reduce the  
          duration and impacts of traffic incidents and improve the safety  
          of motorists, crash victims, and emergency responders.  


          This bill adopts one of TIM's policy recommendations aimed at  
          reducing the period a vehicle is impeding highway traffic by  
          allowing a peace officer to authorize a tow truck operator to  
          travel on a highway's center median or right shoulder in order  
          to remove disabled vehicles in a timely manner.  Currently, law  
          enforcement officers responding to a traffic incident cannot  
          grant this authority to tow operators, in turn causing extended  
          traffic delays in many circumstances.  As a result, the author  
          asserts, "as one TIM's identified best practices, this bill  
          provides law enforcement with the flexibility to determine the  
          most effective approach in removing disabled vehicles impeding  
          highway traffic and causing significant delays."   


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




          Support


          California Peace Officers' Association


          California State Sheriffs' Association 


          California Tow Truck Association 




          Opposition








                                                                     AB 198


                                                                    Page  4







          None on file 




          Analysis Prepared by:Manny Leon / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093