BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING Senator Jim Beall, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 198 Hearing Date: 6/9/2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Frazier | |----------+------------------------------------------------------| |Version: |6/2/2015 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant|Erin Riches | |: | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUBJECT: Vehicles: tow truck assistance DIGEST: This bill authorizes tow truck operators to operate in the center median or right shoulder of a roadway under specified conditions. ANALYSIS: Existing law prohibits an individual from stopping, parking, or leaving a vehicle parked upon a freeway except under specified conditions, including, among other conditions: 1)When the vehicle is so disabled that it is impossible to avoid temporarily stopping and another vehicle has been summoned to render assistance. 2)When necessary for a tow truck owner or operator who is operating under an agreement with the California Highway Patrol to rapidly remove impediments to traffic. This bill explicitly authorizes a tow truck operator providing emergency roadside assistance to utilize the center median (including making a U-turn across the median) or the right shoulder of a roadway if all of the following conditions are met: 1)The tow truck operator is operating under an agreement with the law enforcement agency responsible for investigating traffic collisions on the roadway; AB 198 (Frazier) Page 2 of ? 2)The tow truck operator is summoned by the owner or operator of a vehicle involved in a collision or that is otherwise disabled on the roadway; 3)A peace officer at the scene of the roadway obstruction has determined that the obstruction has caused an unnecessary delay to motorists; 4)The peace officer has determined that a tow truck can provide emergency roadside assistance by removing the disabled vehicle and has given explicit permission to the tow truck driver to use the center median or right shoulder of the roadway; 5)The tow truck operator operates the tow truck on the center median or right shoulder at a speed that is reasonable and prudent with due regard for weather, visibility, traffic, and the surface and width of the roadway; and 6)The tow truck displays flashing amber warning lights to the front, rear, and both sides while driving in the center median or right shoulder. COMMENTS: Purpose. The author states that existing law does not authorize law enforcement to allow tow trucks responding to an emergency to utilize the center median or right shoulder of a roadway. However, the center median or right shoulder would often provide the quickest access on a congested roadway where a traffic collision has occurred. This bill will help speed removal of traffic impediments by authorizing tow trucks to use the median or shoulder when appropriate. Costs of congestion. A new Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) report indicates that in 2011, the most recent year for which data are available, Interstate 5 in California was the most congested interstate highway in the nation. Interstates 10 and 110 in California were the second and third most congested. Research indicates that traffic congestion is a major economic development issue: Unexpected delays add costs to goods movement, regional congestion hurts business competitiveness, and congestion diminishes residents' quality of life. In addition, traffic congestion leads to wasted fuel, increased carbon dioxide emissions, lost productivity, and higher chances of collisions due to tight spacing and constant stopping and AB 198 (Frazier) Page 3 of ? starting. Implementing an FHWA recommendation. To address the social and economic costs of traffic collisions, 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. The TIM, under FHWA's Office of Transportation Operations, consists of a coordinated, multi-disciplinary process to detect, respond to, and clear traffic incidents. The goal of the TIM is to reduce the duration and impacts of traffic incidents and to improve the safety of motorists, crash victims, and emergency responders. The TIM provides a number of recommendations and best practices related to the safe and timely removal of wreckage and debris. One of these recommendations is to provide law enforcement with flexibility to determine the most effective approach in removing disabled vehicles impeding highway traffic. This bill will implement this recommendation by facilitating rapid removal of traffic impediments and/or removal of a disabled vehicle obstructing a roadway. Assembly Votes: Floor: 75-0 Trans: 15-0 FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday, June 3, 2015.) SUPPORT: California Association of Highway Patrolmen California Peace Officers' Association California Police Chiefs Association California State Sheriffs' Association California Tow Truck Association Official Police Garage Association of Los Angeles United Coalition for Motor Club Safety AB 198 (Frazier) Page 4 of ? OPPOSITION: None received -- END --