BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2687|
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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
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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,
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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