BILL NUMBER: AB 662 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 22, 1997
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 9, 1997
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 18, 1997
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 5, 1997
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 2, 1997
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hertzberg
FEBRUARY 26, 1997
An act to add Section 14602.7 to the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 662, as amended, Hertzberg. Vehicles: fleeing or evading a
peace officer: reckless driving: removal and impoundment.
(1) Existing law makes it a crime for any person, while operating
a motor vehicle with the intent to evade, to willfully flee, or to
otherwise attempt to evade, a pursuing peace officer's motor vehicle
or bicycle if certain conditions exist. Existing law provides for
enhanced penalties when additional circumstances exist. Existing law
also makes it a crime to drive any vehicle upon a highway in willful
or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.
This bill would authorize a peace
officer to cause the seizure and removal of the person's vehicle on
the grounds that the vehicle was an instrumentality used in violation
of an offense described above when the peace officer has reasonable
cause, as described, to believe the violation occurred
require a magistrate to issue a warrant or order authorizing any
peace officer to immediately seize and cause the removal of a
vehicle, if presented with the affidavit of a peace officer
establishing reasonable cause to believe that the vehicle, described
by vehicle type and license number, was an instrumentality used in
that officer's presence in violation of an offense described above
. A vehicle so impounded would be subject to an impoundment
period that is not to exceed 30 days.
The bill would prescribe procedures to be followed for the release
of the vehicle prior to the end of the impoundment period, including
a requirement that a legal owner who has obtained possession of the
impounded vehicle not relinquish the vehicle to the registered owner
until after the termination of the impoundment period and until after
the registered owner has presented a valid driver's license or valid
temporary driver's license to the legal owner. Because a violation
of that requirement and certain other requirements and restrictions
imposed by the bill would be an infraction, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.
The bill would require the magistrate ordering the storage of the
impounded vehicle to provide the vehicle's registered and legal
owners of record, or their agents, with the opportunity for a
poststorage hearing to determine the validity of the storage. The
bill would prescribe procedures for that hearing.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 14602.7 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
14602.7. (a) A peace officer may seize and immediately cause
removal of a vehicle on the grounds that it was an instrumentality
used in violation of Section 2800.1, 2800.2, 2800.3, or 23103 when
the peace officer has reasonable cause to believe that the violation
occurred within his or her presence and it occurred within the
preceding six hours, or when the reasonable cause is based upon a
written report by a peace officer who states that he or she observed
the violation of Section 2800.1, 2800.2, 2800.3, or 23103. The
report shall be approved by a unit shift supervisor before the report
may be entered into a computerized data base and used as the basis
of the reasonable cause.
14602.7. (a) A magistrate presented with the affidavit of a peace
officer establishing reasonable cause to believe that a vehicle,
described by vehicle type and license number, was an instrumentality
used in the peace officer's presence in violation of Sections 2800.1,
2800.2, 2800.3, or 23103, shall issue a warrant or order authorizing
any peace officer to immediately seize and cause the removal of the
vehicle. The warrant or court order may be entered into a
computerized data base. A vehicle so impounded may be
impounded for a period not to exceed 30 days.
The impounding agency, within two working days of impoundment,
shall send a notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to
the legal owner of the vehicle, at the address obtained from the
department, informing the owner that the vehicle has been impounded
and providing the owner with a copy of the warrant or court
order . Failure to notify the legal owner within two working
days shall prohibit the impounding agency from charging for more than
15 days impoundment when a legal owner redeems the impounded
vehicle.
(b) The registered and legal owner of a vehicle that is removed
and seized under subdivision (a) or their agents shall be provided
the opportunity for a storage hearing to determine the validity of,
or consider any mitigating circumstances attendant to, the storage,
in accordance with Section 22852.
(c)
(b) (1) An impounding agency shall release a vehicle to the
registered owner or his or her agent prior to the end of the
impoundment period and without the permission of the magistrate
authorizing the vehicle's seizure under any of the following
circumstances:
(A) When the vehicle is a stolen vehicle.
(B) When the vehicle is subject to bailment and is driven by an
unlicensed employee of the business establishment, including a
parking service or repair garage.
(C) When the registered owner of the vehicle causes a peace
officer to reasonably believe, based on the totality of the
circumstances, that the registered owner was not the driver who
violated Section 2800.1, 2800.2, or 2800.3, the agency shall
immediately release the vehicle to the registered owner or his or her
agent.
(2) No vehicle shall be released pursuant to this subdivision,
except upon presentation of the registered owner's or agent's
currently valid driver's license to operate the vehicle and proof of
current vehicle registration, or upon order of the court.
(c) (1) Whenever a vehicle is impounded under this section, the
magistrate ordering the storage shall provide the vehicle's
registered and legal owners of record, or their agents, with the
opportunity for a poststorage hearing to determine the validity of
the storage.
(2) A notice of the storage shall be mailed or personally
delivered to the registered and legal owners with 48 hours after
issuance of the warrant or court order, excluding weekends and
holidays, by the person or agency executing the warrant or court
order, and shall include all of the following information:
(A) The name, address, and telephone number of the agency
providing the notice.
(B) The location of the place of storage and a description of the
vehicle, which shall include, if available, the name or make, the
manufacturer, the license plate number, and the mileage of the
vehicle.
(C) A copy of the warrant or court order and the peace officer's
affidavit, as described in subdivision (a).
(D) A statement that, in order to receive their poststorage
hearing, the owners, or their agents, are required to request the
hearing from the magistrate issuing the warrant or court order in
person, in writing, or by telephone, within 10 days of the date of
the notice.
(3) The poststorage hearing shall be conducted within two court
days after receipt of the request for the hearing.
(4) At the hearing, the magistrate may order the vehicle released
if he or she finds any of the circumstances described in subdivision
(b) or (e) that allow release of a vehicle by the impounding agency.
The magistrate may also consider releasing the vehicle when the
continued impoundment will cause undue hardship to persons dependent
upon the vehicle for employment or to a person with a community
property interest in the vehicle.
(5) Failure of either the registered or legal owner, or his or her
agent, to request, or to attend, a scheduled hearing satisfies the
poststorage hearing requirement.
(6) The agency employing the peace officer who caused the
magistrate to issue the warrant or court order shall be responsible
for the costs incurred for towing and storage if it is determined in
the poststorage hearing that reasonable grounds for the storage are
not established.
(d) The registered owner or his or her agent is responsible for
all towing and storage charges related to the impoundment, and any
administrative charges authorized under Section 22850.5.
(e) A vehicle removed and seized under subdivision (a) shall be
released to the legal owner of the vehicle or the legal owner's agent
prior to the end of the impoundment period and without the
permission of the magistrate authorizing the seizure of the vehicle
if all of the following conditions are met.
(1) The legal owner is a motor vehicle dealer, bank, credit union,
acceptance corporation, or other licensed financial institution
legally operating in this state or is another person, not the
registered owner, holding a financial interest in the vehicle.
(2) The legal owner or the legal owner's agent pays all towing and
storage fees related to the seizure of the vehicle. No lien sale
processing fees shall be charged to the legal owner who redeems the
vehicle prior to the 15th day of impoundment.
(3) The legal owner or the legal owner's agent presents
foreclosure documents or a certificate of repossession and a
document of title showing proof of legal ownership for the vehicle.
(f) (1) A legal owner or the legal owner's agent that obtains
release of the vehicle pursuant to subdivision (e) shall not release
the vehicle to the registered owner of the vehicle or any agents of
the registered owner, unless a registered owner is a rental car
agency, until the termination of the impoundment period.
(2) The legal owner or the legal owner's agent shall not
relinquish the vehicle to the registered owner until the registered
owner or that owner's agent presents his or her valid driver's
license or valid temporary driver's license to the legal owner or the
legal owner's agent. The legal owner or the legal owner's agent
shall make every reasonable effort to ensure that the license
presented is valid.
(3) Prior to relinquishing the vehicle, the legal owner may
require the registered owner to pay all towing and storage charges
related to the impoundment and the administrative charges authorized
under Section 22850.5 that were incurred by the legal owner in
connection with obtaining the custody of the vehicle.
(g) (1) A vehicle impounded and seized under subdivision (a) shall
be released to a rental car agency prior to the end of the
impoundment period if the agency is either the legal owner or
registered owner of the vehicle and the agency pays all towing and
storage fees related to the seizure of the vehicle.
(2) The owner of a rental vehicle that was seized under this
section may continue to rent the vehicle upon recovery of the
vehicle. However, the rental car agency shall not rent another
vehicle to the driver who used the vehicle that was seized to evade a
police officer until 30 days after the date that the vehicle was
seized.
(3) The rental car agency may require the person to whom the
vehicle was rented and who evaded the peace officer to pay all towing
and storage charges related to the impoundment and any
administrative charges authorized under Section 22850.5 that were
incurred by the rental car agency in connection with obtaining
custody of the vehicle.
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the
registered owner and not the legal owner shall remain responsible for
any towing and storage charges related to the impoundment and the
administrative charges authorized under Section 22850.5 and any
parking fines, penalties, and administrative fees incurred by the
registered owner.
(i) (1) This section does not apply to vehicles abated under the
Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Program pursuant to Sections 22660 to
22668, inclusive, and Section 22710, or to vehicles impounded for
investigation pursuant to Section 22655, or to vehicles removed from
private property pursuant to Section 22658
(2) This section does not apply to abandoned vehicles removed
pursuant to Section 22669 that are determined by the public agency to
have an estimated value of three hundred dollars ($300) or less.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the
only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
Notwithstanding Section 17580 of the Government Code, unless
otherwise specified, the provisions of this act shall become
operative on the same date that the act takes effect pursuant to the
California Constitution.