BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2687| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 2687 Author: Achadjian (R), Chang (R) and Low (D) Amended: 5/27/16 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/28/16 AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16 AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Vehicles: passenger for hire: driving under the influence SOURCE: California District Attorneys Association DIGEST: This bill makes it unlawful for a person driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of 0.04% or more when a passenger for hire is in his or her vehicle. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1) Provides it is unlawful for any person who is under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug, or under the combined influence of any alcoholic beverage and drug, to drive a vehicle. (Vehicle Code § 23152(a).) 2) Provides that it is unlawful for any person, while having AB 2687 Page 2 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a vehicle. (Vehicle Code § 23152(b).) 3) Provides that it is a rebuttable presumption that the person had 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of driving the vehicle if the person had 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of the performance of a chemical test within three hours after the driving. (Vehicle Code § 23152 (b).) 4) Provides that t is unlawful for a person who is addicted to the use of any drug to drive a vehicle. (Vehicle Code § 23152 (c).) 5) Provides that it is unlawful for a person who has 0.04 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in Section 15210. (Vehicle Code § 23152 (d).) 6) Provides it is a rebuttable presumption that the person had 0.04 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of driving the vehicle if the person had 0.04 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood at the time of the performance of a chemical test within three hours after the driving. (Vehicle Code, § 23152 (d).) 7) Provides that it is unlawful for a person who is under the influence of any drug to drive a vehicle. (Vehicle Code, § 23152 (e).) 8) Provides that it is unlawful for a person who is under the combined influence of any alcoholic beverage and drug to drive a vehicle. (Vehicle Code, § 23152 (f).) 9) Defines "commercial motor vehicle" as "any vehicle or combination of vehicles that requires a class A or class B license, or a class C license with an endorsement issued for the following vehicles: a) A double trailer; (Vehicle Code, § 15278 (a)(1).) 10)Provides that a passenger transportation vehicle, which includes, but is not limited to, a bus, farm labor vehicle, AB 2687 Page 3 or general public paratransit vehicle when designed, used, or maintained to carry more than 10 persons including the driver; (Vehicle Code, § 15278 (a)(2).) 11)Defines "charter party carriers of passengers" as "every person engaged in the transportation of person by motor vehicle for compensation, as specified, over any public highway in the state." (Public Utilities Code § 5360.) This bill: 1) Makes it unlawful for a person who has 0.04% or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a motor vehicle when a passenger for hire is a passenger in the vehicle at the time of the offense. 2) Makes it unlawful have a 0.04% or more, by weight of alcohol in his or her blood and cause an injury to a passenger when driving a motor vehicle when a passenger for hire is a passenger in the vehicle at the time of the offense. 3) Defines "passenger for hire" as a passenger for whom consideration is contributed or expected as a condition of carriage in the vehicle. 4) Has a delayed implementation date of January 1, 2018. Background Under current law individuals driving "commercial vehicles" are prohibited from driving such a vehicle with .04 or more Blood Alcohol Content (BAC), at the time of driving. Generally, individuals are prohibited from driving if they have .08 or more BAC. Taxi drivers and drivers for ride sharing services (Uber, Lyft) are governed by the .08 limit. That limit applies whether or not there are passengers in their vehicles. Under current law commercial vehicles include a vehicle that can carry more than 10 people. This includes bus drivers and individuals driving larger shuttles. One of the reasons the law imposes lower alcohol limits for drivers of commercial vehicles is that commercial vehicles are much larger vehicles with a greater potential to cause injury and death in the event of a AB 2687 Page 4 collision. Commercial vehicles do include passenger transportation vehicle when designed, used, or maintained to carry more than 10 persons including the driver. (Vehicle Code, § 15278, subd. (a)(2). Such vehicles includes shuttles and larger vans used in manners that would be consistent with the definition in this bill of "passenger for hire." A lower limit for drivers of commercial vehicles is also consistent with the increased regulations that are placed on commercial drivers generally. Taxi drivers and drivers for hire, such as Uber, are providing a commercial service to the public. The government applies different legal standards and regulatory frameworks to commercial service providers of all varieties. Such regulations are in place to ensure public trust and provide consumer protections. Is a lower BAC limit for drivers of passengers for hire consistent with those regulatory goals? FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee Analysis: State prisons: Potentially significant increase in state costs (General Fund) for new commitments to state prison to the extent the more stringent blood alcohol content (BAC) level results in additional felony convictions to state prison. The CDCR indicates over 1,700 commitments in 2015 under the applicable DUI offenses. The number of additional commitments resulting from the bill cannot be known with certainty. For every one percent increase in annual commitments, costs are estimated at $500,000 (General Fund) assuming the contract bed rate of $29,000 per year. County jails: Potentially significant increase in local costs (Local Funds) for additional misdemeanor convictions that result in a greater number of sentences to county jail. The DMV data indicates nearly 118,000 convictions in 2015 for the DUI offenses applicable to this measure. Even a one percent increase in convictions would result in a significant impact to local jails. AB 2687 Page 5 DMV: Minor one-time costs of less than $50,000 (Special Fund*) for programming changes necessitated by the bill. CHP: Minor costs to train officers on the new standard, and no anticipated additional costs for equipment. *Motor Vehicle Account SUPPORT: (Verified8/12/16) California District Attorneys Association (source) Alcohol Justice California Alcohol Policy Alliance California Council on Alcohol Problems California Sheriffs' Association Peace Officers Research Association of California OPPOSITION: (Verified8/12/16) California Attorneys for Criminal Justice California Public Defenders Association Legal Services for Prisoners with Children ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The sponsor of this bill, the California District Attorneys Association notes: Currently, Vehicle Code section 223152(d) places the legal blood alcohol limit at 0.04% for commercial motor vehicle drivers. Neither taxis, nor private vehicles engaged in the commercial transport of passengers, are considered commercial vehicles, and operators are not required to have a commercial driver's license. Thus despite engaging in the business of transporting passengers, these drivers are not held to any higher standard or behavior. These quasi-commercial drivers present an increased risk to public safety when driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs while carrying passengers for hire. Were they to be involved in a traffic collision, it is likely that their passengers would suffer injury AB 2687 Page 6 in addition to any injuries inflicted upon pedestrians or occupants of other involved vehicles. This behavior also violates their passengers' trust that they will be able to get their passengers safely from point A to point B, despite the frequency with which we encourage the use of these alternatives to drinking and driving. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The California Public Defenders Association opposes this bill stating: V.C. 23152 prohibits driving under the influence or driving with a blood alcohol level of .08% or higher. A few years ago, a new subdivision was added to also make it a violation of the DUI statute, and punishable to the same extent, to drive a commercial vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .04, even though the driving ability of most individuals is not impaired at .04 BA. The justification was that commercial vehicles are very large, or carry hazardous materials, or involve the transportation of numerous passengers such as school busses, or public or commercial busses, and therefore the hazard to the public is multiplied to the extent that greater margin for safety should be employed to make it even less likely that drivers of such vehicles MIGHT be impaired. The same standard applies to VC 23153, drunk driving with injury in a commercial vehicle. This bill would expand this subdivision to include not only commercial drivers, but anyone who carries passengers for hire, such as taxi drivers, or Uber or Lyft drivers, even though the hazard to the public is the same as for any other passenger vehicle. Therefore, the original rationale for lower BA threshold of this subdivision is not justified. Moreover, the definition of "passenger for hire" is very loose and vague; namely that it is "a passenger for whom consideration is contributed or expected as a condition of carriage in the vehicle, whether directly or indirectly?" As phrased this could include a carpool, or friends that go "barhopping" and buy the food or drinks for the driver of the vehicle, or even a woman a date who expects "consideration" for driving AB 2687 Page 7 the other person during the date. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 6/1/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon NO VOTE RECORDED: Gomez Prepared by:Mary Kennedy / PUB. S. / 8/15/16 19:39:55 **** END ****