Amended in Senate July 8, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 863

Introduced by Assembly Member Dodd

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Brown)

(Coauthor: Senator Hill)

February 26, 2015

An act to amend begin delete Section end delete begin insert Sections end insert 27375 begin insert and 34500.4 end insert of the Vehicle Code, relating to modified limousines.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 863, as amended, Dodd. Modified limousines: passenger safety.

begin delete

Existing

end delete

begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Existing end insert law, on and after January 1, 2016, requires any person operating a modified limousine that is modified prior to July 1, 2015, to ensure that the vehicle is equipped with at least 2 rear side doors and one or 2 rear windows that the rear seat passengers or all passengers of the vehicle may open from the inside of the vehicle in case of any fire or other emergency, as specified.

Under this bill, the requirement that those modified limousines be equipped with one or 2 rear windows would instead apply on and after January 1, 2017. begin insert The bill would make other nonsubstantive changes to these provisions. end insert

begin delete

The bill would make other nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

end delete begin insert

(2) Existing law requires, not later than July 1, 2016, the Department of the California Highway Patrol to implement a program to conduct safety inspections of modified limousine terminals that are operated by passenger stage corporations pursuant to the Public Utilities Act or by charter-party carriers of passengers pursuant to the Passenger Charter-party Carriers’ Act.

end insert begin insert

This bill would extend the operative date of the safety inspection program to July 1, 2017.

end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 27375 of the Vehicle Code is amended
to read:

27375.  

(a) Any person who operates a modified limousine
shall ensure that the vehicle has at least two rear side begin delete doors end delete begin insert doors,
as specified in paragraph (2), end insert and one or two rear windows, as
specified in paragraph (1), that the rear seat passengers or all
passengers of the vehicle may open from the inside of the vehicle
in case of any fire or other emergency that may require the
immediate exit of the passengers of the vehicle. A limousine
subject to this subdivision shall be equipped with both of the
following:

(1) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), at least two
rear push-out windows that are accessible to all passengers. At
least one push-out window shall be located on each side of the
vehicle, unless the design of the limousine precludes the installation
of a push-out window on one side of the vehicle, in which case
the second push-out window shall instead be located in the roof
of the vehicle.

(B) If the design of the limousine precludes the installation of
even one push-out window on a side of the vehicle, one push-out
window shall instead be located in the roof of the vehicle.

(C) The Department of the California Highway Patrol shall
establish, by regulation, standards to ensure that window exits are
operable and sufficient in emergency situations for limousine
passengers. The department shall ensure that these regulations
comply with any applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards.

begin insert

(D) For modified limousines modified prior to July 1, 2015, the
requirements of this paragraph shall apply on and after January
1, 2017.

end insert

(2)  begin insert (A) end insert begin insert   end insert At least two rear side doors that are accessible to all
passengers and that may be opened manually by any passenger.
At least one rear side door shall be located on each side of the
vehicle. begin delete For end delete

begin insert (B) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert For end insert modified limousines modified on or after July 1, 2015,
at least one of these side doors shall be located near the driver’s
compartment and another near the back of the vehicle. begin delete These end delete

begin insert (C) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The rear end insert side doors shall comply with any applicable federal
motor vehicle safety standards as deemed necessary by the
Department of the California Highway Patrol.

(b) In the case of a fire or other emergency that requires the
immediate exit of the passengers from the limousine, the driver of
the limousine shall unlock the doors so that the rear side doors can
be opened by the passengers from the inside of the vehicle.

(c) An owner or operator of a limousine shall do all of the
following:

(1) Instruct all passengers on the safety features of the vehicle
prior to the beginning of any trip, including, but not limited to,
instructions for lowering the partition between the driver and
passenger compartments and for communicating with the driver
by the use of an intercom or other onboard or wireless device.

(2) Disclose to the contracting party and the passengers whether
the limousine meets the safety requirements described in this
section.

(3) If paragraph begin delete (3) end delete begin insert (1) end insert of subdivision (d) applies, the owner or
operator of a limousine shall further disclose to the contracting
party and the passengers that the limousine does not meet the safety
requirements required in subdivision (a) regarding vehicle escape
options because of its exempt status, and therefore may pose a
greater risk to passengers should emergency escape be necessary.

begin delete

(d) (1) Subdivision (a) shall apply to all modified limousines
modified on or after July 1, 2015.

end delete begin delete

(2) Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall, beginning January 1,
2017, apply to all vehicles that met the definition of modified
limousine, as described in subdivision (b) of Section 378, that were
modified prior to July 1, 2015.

end delete begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert (1) end insert  Except as provided in paragraph begin delete (4), end delete begin insert (2), end insert subdivision
(a) shall not apply to any limousine manufactured before 1970 that
has an active transportation charter-party carrier (TCP) number
that was issued by the commission as of August 15, 2013.

begin delete

(4)

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert  Subdivision (a) shall apply to any limousine manufactured
before 1970 if it was modified after August 15, 2013.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 34500.4 of the end insert begin insert Vehicle Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

34500.4.  

(a) Not later than July 1, begin delete 2016, end delete begin insert 2017, end insert the Department
of the California Highway Patrol shall implement a program to
conduct safety inspections of modified limousine terminals that
are operated by passenger stage corporations pursuant to Article
2 (commencing with Section 1031) of Chapter 5 of Part 1 of
Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code or by charter-party carriers
of passengers pursuant to the Passenger Charter-party Carriers’
Act (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 5351) of Division 2 of
the Public Utilities Code).

(b) (1) The inspection program shall include, but is not limited
to, the safe operation of the vehicle, the installation of safety
equipment, the retention of maintenance logs, accident reports,
and records of driver discipline, compliance with federal and state
motor vehicle safety standards, the examination of a preventative
maintenance program, and, if ownership of the modified limousine
has been transferred, the transmission of relevant safety and
maintenance information of the limousine.

(2) Pursuant to the safety inspection program, the department
shall conduct an inspection of each terminal of a charter-party
carrier of passengers and passenger stage corporation that operates
modified limousines at least once every 13 months.

(3) The department shall adopt emergency regulations for
purposes of this subdivision. The adoption by the department of
regulations implementing this section shall be deemed to be an
emergency and necessary to avoid serious harm to the public peace,
health, safety, or general welfare for purposes of Sections 11346.1
and 11349.6 of the Government Code, and the department is hereby
exempted from the requirement that it describe facts showing the
need for immediate action to the Office of Administrative Law.
The emergency regulations shall remain in effect for no more than
one year, by which time final regulations shall be adopted.

(4) (A) The department shall adopt regulations to establish an
inspection fee to be collected every 13 months, based on the
number of modified limousines operated by a single charter-party
carrier or passenger stage corporation. The fee shall be in an
amount sufficient to offset the costs to administer the inspection
program and shall not be used to supplant or support any other
inspection program conducted by the department. The fee shall be
in addition to any other required fee. When developing the
regulations, the department shall consider measures that increase
efficiencies to limit the financial impact to charter-party carriers
of passengers and passenger stage corporations subject to the fee.
The department shall promulgate the regulations in consultation
with appropriate interested parties.

(B) The fee structure established pursuant to this subdivision
shall apply to modified limousines that are required to undergo a
safety inspection pursuant to this section.

(C) The fee established pursuant to this subdivision shall be
collected by the Public Utilities Commission and deposited into
the Motor Vehicle Account in the State Transportation Fund to
cover the costs of the inspections conducted by the department.

(5) The department shall transmit to the Public Utilities
Commission inspection data of modified limousine terminals
inspected pursuant to this program, as specified in the program
regulations.

(c) Regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall be
consistent with the established inspection program administered
by the department for buses pursuant to this division.