BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
                              Senator Jim Beall, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:          AB 208            Hearing Date:     6/16/2015
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          |Author:   |Bigelow                                               |
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          |Version:  |4/21/2015                                             |
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          |Urgency:  |No                     |Fiscal:      |No              |
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          |Consultant|Erin Riches                                           |
          |:         |                                                      |
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          SUBJECT:  Slow-moving vehicles:  passing


            DIGEST:  This bill expands the slow-moving vehicle statute to  
          include the shoulder of a highway.

          ANALYSIS:
          
          Existing law:
          
          1)Prohibits a driver from driving to the left of double solid  
            parallel yellow or white lines except under very limited  
            circumstances, such as passing another vehicle or entering a  
            two-way left turn lane.

          2)Allows a bicyclist to operate on any shoulder of any highway  
            if not otherwise prohibited by statute or local ordinance.

          3)Enacts the Three Feet for Safety Act, which, effective  
            September 1, 2014, requires the driver of a motor vehicle who  
            is passing a bicyclist in the same direction on a highway to  
            pass at a distance of at least three feet between the vehicle  
            and the bicycle.  It also requires the driver, if unable to  
            provide three feet of passing distance, to slow to a  
            reasonable speed and to pass only when doing so will not  
            endanger the bicyclist.  

          4)Provides that when a slow-moving vehicle has five or more  
            vehicles in line behind it on a two-lane highway, and passing  
            is unsafe because of oncoming traffic or other conditions, the  







          AB 208 (Bigelow)                                   Page 2 of ?
          
          
            slow-moving vehicle must turn off the roadway at the nearest  
            safe turnout to allow other vehicles to pass.

          5)Defines a slow-moving vehicle as one which is proceeding  
            slower than the normal flow of traffic.

          6)Defines "roadway" as the portion of a highway that is  
            improved, designed, or ordinarily used for vehicular travel.  

          7)Defines "highway" as a way or place, including a street, that  
            is publicly maintained and open to public use for purposes of  
            vehicular travel.

          This bill provides that the slow-moving vehicle rule applies  
          when a bicyclist is riding on the shoulder of a highway.

          COMMENTS:

          1)Purpose.  The author states that because the roads of rural  
            California tend to be very narrow, it is nearly impossible for  
            drivers to respect the Three Feet for Safety Act.  Some  
            two-lane highways are so narrow that even if a bicyclist is  
            riding on the shoulder, the motorist is unable to provide  
            three feet of space.   Because a "roadway" is defined as a  
            portion of a highway, both bicyclists and motorists are  
            confused as to whether the three-foot rule applies in a  
            situation where a bicyclist is riding on the shoulder rather  
            than on the actual road.  This bill addresses that confusion  
            by specifying that the requirement for a slow-moving vehicle  
            to pull over at the next turnout applies to highways (which  
            include shoulders) rather than just roadways.  The author  
            states that this clarification will make the roads safer for  
            both motorists and bicyclists.

          2)What if the "slow-moving vehicle" is a bicyclist?  Existing  
            law defines a slow-moving vehicle as one that is proceeding  
            slower than the normal flow of traffic.  Although this  
            definition does not technically include bicycles, existing law  
            makes every person riding a bicycle on a highway subject to  
            all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle.   
            Therefore, this bill would require a bicyclist riding on the  
            shoulder of a highway, who has five or more cars lined up  
            behind him or her, to turn off the highway at the nearest safe  
            turnout to allow the vehicles to pass.  But this would only  
            apply if the cars do not pass the bike with less than three  








          AB 208 (Bigelow)                                   Page 3 of ?
          
          
            feet of space when it is safe to do so, as currently allowed  
            under the Three Feet for Safety Act.

          Related Legislation:
          
          AB 1371 (Bradford, Chapter 331, Statutes of 2013) established  
          the Three Feet for Safety Act effective September 1, 2014.

          


          Assembly Votes:

            Floor:    78-0
            Trans:    16-0

          FISCAL EFFECT:  Appropriation:  No    Fiscal Com.:  No    Local:  
           No


            POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the committee before noon on  
          Wednesday,
                          June 10, 2015.)
          
            SUPPORT:  

          None received

          OPPOSITION:

          None received



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