BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2073
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 4, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jim Frazier, Chair
AB 2073
(Holden) - As Introduced February 17, 2016
SUBJECT: Golf carts: City of La Verne
SUMMARY: Allows for the use of utility- and shuttle-style golf
carts as part of the City of La Verne's golf cart transportation
plan.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Defines a golf cart as a motor vehicle with an unladen weight
less than 1,300 pounds, designed to be, and operated at, not
more than 15 miles per hour (mph), and designed to carry golf
equipment and not more than two people.
2)Prohibits golf carts from being registered with the Department
of Motor Vehicles (DMV) as motor vehicles.
3)Defines a low-speed electric vehicle as having a gross vehicle
weight of less than 3,000 pounds and able to attain a speed of
greater than 20 mph but not more than 35 mph.
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4)Provides that low-speed vehicles may be registered with the
DMV and are permitted to operate on public roadways with speed
limits up to 35 mph.
5)Makes it illegal to operate golf carts on streets and highways
except when operated immediately adjacent to a golf course
(when specific criteria are met) or in separated lanes
developed based on a golf cart transportation plan.
6)Authorizes any city or county working in cooperation with the
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to
establish a golf cart transportation plan that includes, among
other things, design criteria and construction of separated
golf cart lanes.
7)Provides that the requirement for the construction of
separated golf cart lanes does not apply to certain residence
districts and certain roadway segments in the City of La
Verne, provided specified conditions are met.
8)Authorizes golf carts to be operated along with motor vehicles
on specified highways and highway segments in the City of La
Verne, thereby allowing the concurrent use indefinitely.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown, this bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: According to the author, it recently came to the
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attention of the City of La Verne that the utility- and
shuttle-style golf carts that have been in use for many years do
not comply with the definition of a golf cart and, therefore,
are not in compliance for use under the city's golf cart
transportation plan. To ensure that the City of La Verne can
continue to use these vehicles, the author has introduced this
bill to clarify that these vehicles are authorized for use
pursuant to the plan.
The City of La Verne is a small municipality, with a population
of 31,000 residents, located in California's San Gabriel Valley
whose transportation grid was originally developed with very
narrow streets surrounded by farm land. Although the
agricultural land has been developed, streets in the City of La
Verne remain narrow, some not large enough to accommodate two
full lanes of traffic.
The City of La Verne is home to the University of La Verne as
well as several large retirement communities with associated
golf courses. Because the streets in the town are narrow,
residents, along with the university staff, began using golf
carts as the primary means of transportation in the 1970's.
Golf cart use on highways is generally prohibited because
variable speeds among vehicles is a leading cause of motor
vehicle accidents. Furthermore, by definition, golf carts
travel at speeds of 20 mph or below and lack the basic safety
equipment required by state and federal law for street-legal
motor vehicles. These features include lights, reflectors,
bumpers, crash-worthy construction, seatbelts, and air bags.
When the City of La Verne learned that golf cart use on public
roadways was prohibited by state law, they sought an exemption
through the introduction of AB 1244 (Adams) of 2007, which would
have exempted the City of La Verne from the requirement to
provide separate lanes for golf carts. AB 1244 was passed by
the Legislature but vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger due to
safety concerns expressed by the California Highway Patrol (CHP)
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regarding mixing faster motor vehicle traffic and slower golf
cart traffic in the same travel lanes.
The following year, Assembly Member Adams addressed the CHP's
concerned in subsequent legislation, AB 963 (Adams), Chapter 6,
Statutes of 2008, which added the requirement that certain
safety features be added to golf carts used in the City of La
Verne (windshield, taillights, headlights, brake lights, and
seatbelts) and allowed for the use of golf carts only on certain
roadways until January 1, 2016, to give users time to transition
to low-speed electric vehicle use.
Since the passage of AB 963, golf cart users in the City of La
Verne claimed that low-speed electric vehicles were not well
suited to the city's narrow roadways. To address concerns that
the sunset date for the golf cart transportation plan was
approaching and golf cart users in the City of La Verne had not
yet converted to low-speed electric vehicle use, AB 173
(Holden), Chapter 65, Statutes of 2015, was passed by the
Legislature deleting the 2016 sunset on the authority of the
City of La Verne to use golf carts on city streets, thereby
continuing the authority indefinitely.
According to the author, while AB 173 was pending the Governor's
signature, CHP noted that some of the golf carts used in the
area do not meet the definition of a golf cart (weighing less
than 1,300 pounds and designed to carry not more than two
persons including the driver). Specifically, CHP was referring
to the utility-style golf carts that exceed 1,300 pound weight
limit and the shuttle-style golf carts that exceed the 1,300
pound weight limit and carry up to eight passengers. According
to the author, these vehicles are commonly used by the
university as well as retirement communities in the city to
carry people and equipment. Despite their frequent use, local
police department records indicate that there have been no
recorded accidents or injuries stemming from the use of utility-
or shuttle-style golf carts on public roadways in the city.
Because these vehicles provide important utility to the
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community, the author is seeking to add these vehicles to the
type of golf carts that can be utilized pursuant to the city's
golf cart transportation plan.
Committee comments: AB 2073 is one of a series of bills that
incrementally allows the City of LaVerne to continue their
existing practice of using golf carts on public roadways
alongside motor vehicles. AB 963 first authorized the use of
golf carts on certain roadways until 2016 to allow the city time
to convert to NEV's use. As the 2016 deadline approached, the
City of LaVerne had not converted to NEV use claiming that NEVs
were too large to be accommodated on the city's roadways. It
should be noted that immediately after the passage of AB 173,
which allowed indefinite use of golf carts, the city is now
requesting an exemption that would allow for the use certain
golf carts that are nearly identical in size and configuration
to NEVs.
Related legislation: AB 2736 (Chu) makes non-substantive
amendments to provisions related to golf cart transportation
plans. AB 2736 is currently awaiting a hearing in the Assembly
Rules Committee.
Previous legislation: AB 173 (Holden), Chapter 65, Statutes of
2015, deleted the 2016 sunset on the authority of the City of La
Verne to permit golf carts to be used on city streets thereby
continuing the authority indefinitely.
AB 963 (Adams), Chapter 6, Statutes of 2008, allowed the City of
La Verne, until January 1, 2016, to designate a highway or
portion thereof for use by both golf carts and motor vehicles
under specified conditions.
AB 1244 (Adams) of 2007, would have exempted the City of La
Verne, from the requirement to provide separate lanes for golf
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carts. AB 1244 was passed by the Legislature but vetoed due to
concerns about the safety of mixing motor vehicle traffic and
golf carts in the same travel lanes.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
City of La Verne Police Department
Hillcrest Retirement Community
University of La Verne
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
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