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  ****