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
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|Author: |Frazier |
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|Version: |6/2/2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant|Erin Riches |
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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
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