BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 812
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
812 (Hill)
As Amended August 15, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 39-0
------------------------------------------------------------------
|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Transportation |15-0 |Frazier, Linder, | |
| | |Baker, Bloom, Brown, | |
| | |Chu, Daly, Dodd, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gomez, Kim, Mathis, | |
| | |Melendez, Nazarian, | |
| | |O'Donnell | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |14-0 |Gonzalez, Bloom, | |
| | |Bonilla, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Weber, Wood, McCarty | |
| | | | |
SB 812
Page 2
| | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Imposes additional requirements on the inspection of
tour buses. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Department of the California Highway Patrol
(CHP), to the extent possible, to conduct inspections of tour
bus operations without prior notice, including tour bus
operations that have a history of non-compliance with safety
laws or regulations, that have received unsatisfactory
inspection ratings, or that have had buses ordered out of
service for safety violations.
2)Requires CHP to immediately order out of service any tour bus
that is determined to have multiple safety violations during a
terminal inspection or at any other time, and prohibits the
tour bus from being operated with passengers until all safety
violations have been corrected and the tour bus is
re-inspected by CHP.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Defines a "bus" as a vehicle designed, used, or maintained for
carrying more than 10 persons, including the driver, which is
used to transport persons for compensation or profit, or is
used by any non-profit organization or group.
2)Defines a "tour bus" as a bus operated by or for a
charter-party carrier of passengers (CPC) or a passenger stage
corporation (PSC).
SB 812
Page 3
3)Requires CHP to regulate the equipment, maintenance, and safe
operation of tour buses.
4)Requires CHP to inspect every maintenance facility or terminal
of any person who operates any bus, including any vehicle in
that terminal, at least once every 13 months, with inspections
of terminals housing more than 100 buses occurring without
prior notice, and prohibits a person from operating a bus
without this inspection having been conducted.
5)Additionally requires all tour buses to be inspected every 45
days by the tour bus operator, or more often if necessary to
ensure safe operation.
6)Requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC),
upon the recommendation of CHP and pending an administrative
hearing, to suspend the permit or certificate of a PSC or CPC
for failure to maintain any vehicle used in transportation for
compensation in a safe operating condition if that failure is
either a consistent failure or presents an imminent danger to
public safety.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, any costs to CHP should be minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS: Existing law generally vests CPUC with the
responsibility to regulate CPCs and PSCs. Tour buses operated
by CPCs and PSCs are required to be inspected every 13 months by
CHP and additionally every 45 days by the tour bus operator.
The findings of the inspections carried out by CHP are reported
to CPUC, and tour buses may not legally operate unless the bus
operator's terminal and maintenance facilities have been
inspected. Terminal inspections typically include inspections
of a vehicle's registration, the driver's licensure, and the
SB 812
Page 4
condition of the vehicle itself. As not every vehicle is
inspected in a terminal inspection, and an inspection can still
result in a satisfactory rating even if some vehicles present
exhibit minor safety violations, recent events suggest the
current inspection program may not subject certain carriers to
sufficient scrutiny.
The author cites a tour bus crash in downtown San Francisco in
November 2015, as the impetus for this bill. While the crash
was found to be the result of driver error, according to the
author, the vehicle had never been inspected by CHP and was not
properly registered with CPUC. A subsequent surprise inspection
of the carrier's fleet resulted in the discovery of numerous
safety violations that had not been discovered in previous,
scheduled inspections.
This bill would require additional inspections of tour bus
operations to occur without prior notice, and would require CHP
to immediately order out of service any non-compliant tour bus,
until the bus's safety violations are corrected and verified in
a subsequent CHP inspection.
The author believes that restructuring CHP's terminal inspection
program will improve the safety and oversight of tour buses
operating in California.
Please see the policy committee analysis for full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Justin Behrens / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN:
0004056
SB 812
Page 5