BILL NUMBER: AB 2746 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Obernolte
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Baker, Bigelow, Brown, Cooper, Dahle,
Gallagher, Ting, and Wood)
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Sections 1808.7, 1808.10, and 42007 of, and to
repeal and amend Section 41501 of, the Vehicle Code, relating to
traffic school.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2746, as introduced, Obernolte. Traffic school: intervals.
Under existing law, after a deposit of bail and bail forfeiture, a
plea of guilty or no contest, or a conviction, a court may order a
continuance of a proceeding against a person, who receives a notice
to appear in court for a violation of a statute relating to the safe
operation of a vehicle, in consideration for successful completion of
a course of instruction at a licensed school for traffic violators,
a licensed driving school, or any other court-approved program of
driving instruction. Existing law requires the record of the
Department of Motor Vehicles relating to the first proceeding and
conviction in any 18-month period for completion of a traffic
violator school program to be confidential, not be disclosed, except
as specified, and to be used only for statistical purposes by the
department.
This bill would reduce the applicable time period between
convictions under the circumstances described above from 18 months to
12 months. The bill also would make various conforming and technical
changes.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Educated Driver Act of 2016.
SEC. 2. Section 1808.7 of the Vehicle Code, as added by Section
2.5 of Chapter 599 of the Statutes of 2010, is amended to read:
1808.7. (a) The record of the department relating to the first
proceeding and conviction under Section 1803.5 in any
18-month 12-month period for completion of a
traffic violator school program is confidential, shall not be
disclosed to any person, except a court and as provided for in
subdivision (b), and shall be used only for statistical purposes by
the department. No A violation point
count shall not be assessed pursuant to Section 12810 if
the conviction is confidential.
(b) The record of a conviction described in subdivision (a) shall
not be confidential if any of the following circumstances applies:
(1) The person convicted holds a commercial driver's license
, as defined by Section 15210.
(2) The person convicted holds a commercial driver's license in
another state, in accordance with Part 383 (commencing with
Section 383.1_) of Subchapter B of Chapter III of Subtitle B of
Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(3) The violation occurred in a commercial motor vehicle, as
defined in subdivision (b) of Section 15210.
(4) The conviction would result in a violation point count of more
than one point pursuant to Section 12810.
(c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2011.
SEC. 3. Section 1808.10 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
1808.10. The record of the department relating to the first
proceeding and conviction for a driver licensed with a class A
license, class B license, or commercial class C driver's license in
any 18-month 12-month period who is
allowed, for a traffic offense while operating a vehicle requiring
only a class C or a class M license, to complete a course of
instruction at a traffic violator school, is not confidential and
shall be disclosed for purposes of Title 49 of the Code of Federal
Regulations and to insurers by the department for insurance
underwriting and rating purposes.
SEC. 4. Section 41501 of the Vehicle Code, as added by Section
12.5 of Chapter 216 of the Statutes of 2010, is repealed.
41501. (a) After a deposit of bail and bail forfeiture, a plea of
guilty or no contest, or a conviction, the court may order a
continuance of a proceeding against a person, who receives a notice
to appear in court for a violation of a statute relating to the safe
operation of a vehicle, in consideration for successful completion of
a course of instruction at a licensed school for traffic violators,
a licensed driving school, or any other court-approved program of
driving instruction, and pursuant to Section 1803.5 or 42005, the
court may order that the conviction be held confidential by the
department according to Section 1808.7.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a person who receives a
notice to appear as to, or is otherwise charged with, a violation of
an offense described in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of
Section 12810.
(c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2011.
SEC. 5. Section 41501 of the Vehicle Code, as amended by Section
311 of Chapter 296 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended to read:
41501. (a) After a deposit of bail and bail forfeiture, a plea of
guilty or no contest, or a conviction, the court may order a
continuance of a proceeding against a person, who receives a notice
to appear in court for a violation of a statute relating to the safe
operation of a vehicle, in consideration for successful completion of
a course of instruction at a licensed school for traffic violators
, a licensed driving school, or any other
court-approved program of driving instruction, and pursuant to
Section 1803.5 or 42005, the court may order that the conviction be
held confidential by the department in accordance with Section
1808.7. The court shall notify a person that only one conviction
within 18 12 months will be held
confidential.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a person who receives a
notice to appear as to, or is otherwise charged with, a violation of
an offense described in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of
Section 12810.
(c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2011.
SEC. 6. Section 42007 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
42007. (a) (1) (A) The clerk of the court
shall collect a fee from every person who is ordered or permitted to
attend a traffic violator school pursuant to Section 41501 or 42005
in an amount equal to the total bail set forth for the eligible
offense on the uniform countywide bail schedule. As used in this
subdivision, "total bail" means the amount established pursuant to
Section 1269b of the Penal Code in accordance with the Uniform Bail
and Penalty Schedule adopted by the Judicial Council, including all
assessments, surcharges, and penalty amounts. Where
If multiple offenses are charged in a single
notice to appear, the "total bail" is the amount applicable for the
greater of the qualifying offenses. However, the court may determine
a lesser fee under this subdivision upon a showing that the defendant
is unable to pay the full amount.
The
(B) The fee shall not include the
cost, or any part thereof, of traffic safety instruction offered by
a traffic violator school.
(2) The clerk may accept from a defendant who is ordered or
permitted to attend traffic violator school a payment of at least 10
percent of the fee required by paragraph (1) upon filing a written
agreement by the defendant to pay the remainder of the fee according
to an installment payment schedule of no more than 90 days as agreed
upon with the court. The Judicial Council shall prescribe the form of
the agreement for payment of the fee in installments. When the
defendant signs the Judicial Council form for payment of the fee in
installments, the court shall continue the case to the date in the
agreement to complete payment of the fee and submit the certificate
of completion of traffic violator school to the court. The clerk
shall collect a fee of up to thirty-five dollars ($35) to cover
administrative and clerical costs for processing an installment
payment of the traffic violator school fee under this paragraph.
(3) If a defendant fails to make an installment payment of the fee
according to an installment agreement, the court may convert the fee
to bail, declare it forfeited, and report the forfeiture as a
conviction under Section 1803. The court may also charge a failure to
pay under Section 40508 and impose a civil assessment as provided in
Section 1214.1 of the Penal Code or issue an arrest warrant for a
failure to pay. For the purposes of reporting a conviction under this
subdivision to the department under Section 1803, the date that the
court declares the bail forfeited shall be reported as the date of
conviction.
(b) Revenues derived from the fee collected under this section
shall be deposited in accordance with Section 68084 of the Government
Code in the general fund of the county and, as may be applicable,
distributed as follows:
(1) In any county in which a fund is established pursuant to
Section 76100 or 76101 of the Government Code, the sum of one dollar
($1) for each fund so established shall be deposited with the county
treasurer and placed in that fund.
(2) In any county that has established a Maddy Emergency Medical
Services Fund pursuant to Section 1797.98a of the Health and Safety
Code, an amount equal to the sum of each two dollars ($2) for every
seven dollars ($7) that would have been collected pursuant to Section
76000 of the Government Code and, commencing January 1, 2009, an
amount equal to the sum of each two dollars ($2) for every ten
dollars ($10) that would have been collected pursuant to Section
76000.5 of the Government Code with respect to those counties to
which that section is applicable shall be deposited in that fund.
Nothing in the act that added this paragraph shall be interpreted in
a manner that would result in either of the following:
(A) The utilization of penalty assessment funds that had been set
aside, on or before January 1, 2000, to finance debt service on a
capital facility that existed before January 1, 2000.
(B) The reduction of the availability of penalty assessment
revenues that had been pledged, on or before January 1, 2000, as a
means of financing a facility which that
was approved by a county board of supervisors, but on January
1, 2000, is not under construction.
(3) The amount of the fee that is attributable to Section 70372 of
the Government Code shall be transferred pursuant to subdivision (f)
of that section.
(c) For fees resulting from city arrests, an amount equal to the
amount of base fines that would have been deposited in the treasury
of the appropriate city pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b)
of Section 1463.001 of the Penal Code shall be deposited in the
treasury of the appropriate city.
(d) The clerk of the court, in a county that offers traffic school
shall include in any courtesy notice mailed to a defendant for an
offense that qualifies for traffic school attendance the following
statement:
NOTICE: If you are eligible and decide not to attend traffic
school your automobile insurance may be adversely affected. For
drivers with a noncommercial driver's license, one conviction in any
18-month 12-month period will be held
confidential and not show on your driving record if you complete a
traffic violator school program. For drivers with a commercial driver'
s license, one conviction in any 18-month
12-month period will show on your driving record without a
violation point if you complete a traffic violator school program.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
a county that has established a Maddy Emergency Medical Services
Fund pursuant to Section 1797.98a of the Health and Safety Code shall
not be held liable for having deposited into the fund, prior to
January 1, 2009, an amount equal to two dollars ($2) for every ten
dollars ($10) that would have been collected pursuant to Section
76000.5 of the Government Code from revenues derived from traffic
violator school fees collected pursuant to this section.