BILL NUMBER: AB 1165 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 557
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 1999
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 28, 1999
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 8, 1999
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 2, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 24, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 16, 1999
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 18, 1999
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Florez and Frusetta
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Briggs, Cardoza, Machado,
and Reyes)
(Principal coauthors: Senators Costa and Johnston)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alquist, Bock, Cardenas, Cedillo,
Gallegos, Honda, Knox, Kuehl, Margett, Mazzoni, Pacheco, Romero,
Strom-Martin, Thomson, and Wiggins)
(Coauthors: Senators Alarcon, Baca, Chesbro, Escutia, Hayden,
Murray, Ortiz, Polanco, Speier, and Vasconcellos)
FEBRUARY 25, 1999
An act to amend Section 27315 of, and to add Sections 2429, 4154,
4453.2, 31401.5, and 31405 to, the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency
thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1165, Florez. Farm labor vehicles: safety belts.
(1) Existing law requires the registration card for a vehicle to
contain, on its face, the date issued, the name and residence address
or business address of the owner and of the legal owner, if any, and
certain vehicle identification information.
This bill, additionally, would require the vehicle registration
card of every farm labor vehicle, as defined, to contain the words,
"Farm Labor Vehicle," in conjunction with the vehicle identification
information.
The bill would prohibit the department from issuing or renewing
the registration of a farm labor vehicle unless the owner of the
vehicle has provided the department with verification, as specified,
that the farm labor vehicle inspection described below has been
performed.
(2) Existing law prohibits any person from operating a motor
vehicle, as defined, on a highway unless that person and all
passengers 16 years of age or over are properly restrained by a
safety belt.
This bill would expand the definition of "motor vehicle," for
purposes of the safety belt provision, to include a farm labor
vehicle, and would thereby impose a state-mandated local program by
expanding the definition of a crime.
(3) Existing law requires the Department of the California Highway
Patrol to adopt regulations designed to promote the safe operation
of farm labor vehicles relating to vehicular design, equipment,
passenger safety, and seating. The department is required to inspect
every farm labor vehicle at least once annually to ascertain whether
its construction, design, and equipment comply with all provisions
of law.
This bill would require the department to develop, by regulations,
specifications for a specified display sticker to be displayed on
every farm labor vehicle, and would require those regulations to
require every owner or operator of a farm labor vehicle to request
the scheduling of the specified inspection, for a farm labor vehicle
that has a current inspection certificate, not later than 4 weeks
prior to the expiration date of the certificate, and for initial
inspections, not later than 3 business days prior to the requested
inspection date. The bill would prohibit the owner or operator of a
farm labor vehicle from operating that vehicle without the proper
certification requirements.
The bill would require that, on or before May 1, 2000, every farm
labor vehicle issued an inspection certificate, as specified, between
October 1, 1998, and October 1, 1999, be equipped at each passenger
position with a seat belt assembly conforming to specified federal
regulations.
The bill would prohibit the department, on or after October 1,
1999, from issuing an initial inspection certificate, as specified,
to any vehicle that is not equipped with the required seatbelt
assembly at each passenger position.
The bill would require the owner of a farm labor vehicle to
maintain all required seatbelt assemblies and seatbelt assembly
anchorages in good working order for the use of passengers.
The bill would prohibit any person from operating a farm labor
vehicle on a highway unless that person and all passengers are
properly restrained by a seatbelt assembly that conforms to these
provisions.
The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to
implement these provisions.
Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, the bill
would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would require the department to develop an "800"
telephone number system to facilitate public reporting of violations
of specified provisions relating to farm labor vehicles, and to
publicize the number, as specified.
(4) The bill also would require the department to prepare and
submit to the Legislature on specified dates reports that evaluate
the implementation of this bill and the effectiveness of its
provisions in improving the safety of farm labor vehicles.
(5) 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.
(6) The bill would appropriate $1,750,000 from the Motor Vehicle
Account in the State Transportation Fund to the Department of the
California Highway Patrol for the purpose of increasing the number of
special California Highway Patrol officers charged with enforcing
laws prohibiting illegal transportation of agricultural workers,
including enforcement of the requirement that farm labor vehicles be
equipped with safety belts.
(7) The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 2429 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
2429. The department shall develop an "800" telephone number
system to facilitate public reporting of violations of Article 2
(commencing with Section 31400) of Chapter 5 of Division 13. The
department shall include in the department's "El Protector Program"
public outreach activities that publicize the "800" telephone number
system.
SEC. 1.5. Section 4154 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
4154. The department may not issue or renew the registration of a
farm labor vehicle unless the owner of the vehicle provides
verification to the department that the inspection required by
Section 31401 has been performed. For these purposes, the department
shall determine what constitutes appropriate verification.
SEC. 2. Section 4453.2 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
4453.2. In addition to the information required under Section
4453, the registration card of every farm labor vehicle shall contain
the words, "Farm Labor Vehicle," in conjunction with the vehicle
identification information.
SEC. 3. Section 27315 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
27315. (a) The Legislature finds that a mandatory seatbelt law
will contribute to reducing highway deaths and injuries by
encouraging greater usage of existing manual seatbelts, that
automatic crash protection systems which require no action by vehicle
occupants offer the best hope of reducing deaths and injuries, and
that encouraging the use of manual safety belts is only a partial
remedy for addressing this major cause of death and injury. The
Legislature declares that the enactment of this section is intended
to be compatible with support for federal safety standards requiring
automatic crash protection systems and should not be used in any
manner to rescind federal requirements for installation of automatic
restraints in new cars.
(b) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Motor
Vehicle Safety Act.
(c) (1) As used in this section, "motor vehicle" means any
passenger vehicle or any motortruck or truck tractor, but does not
include a motorcycle.
(2) Until May 1, 2000, for purposes of this section, a "motor
vehicle" also means any farm labor vehicle that was first issued an
inspection certificate under Section 31401 on or after October 1,
1999.
(3) On and after May 1, 2000, for purposes of this section, a
"motor vehicle" also means any farm labor vehicle, regardless of date
of certification under Section 31401.
(d) (1) No person shall operate a motor vehicle on a highway
unless that person and all passengers 16 years of age or over are
properly restrained by a safety belt. This paragraph does not apply
to the operator of a taxicab, as defined in Section 27908, when the
taxicab is driven on a city street and is engaged in the
transportation of a fare-paying passenger. The safety belt
requirement established by this paragraph is the minimum safety
standard applicable to employees being transported in a motor
vehicle. This paragraph does not preempt any more stringent or
restrictive standards imposed by the Labor Code or any other state or
federal regulation regarding the transportation of employees in a
motor vehicle.
(2) The operator of a limousine for hire or the operator of an
authorized emergency vehicle, as defined in subdivision (a) of
Section 165, shall not operate the limousine for hire or authorized
emergency vehicle unless the operator and any passengers four years
of age or over and weighing 40 pounds or more, in the front seat are
properly restrained by a safety belt.
(3) The operator of a taxicab shall not operate the taxicab unless
any passengers four years of age or over and weighing 40 pounds or
more, in the front seat are properly restrained by a safety belt.
(e) No person 16 years of age or over shall be a passenger in a
motor vehicle on a highway unless that person is properly restrained
by a safety belt. This subdivision does not apply to a passenger in
a sleeper berth, as defined in subdivision (v) of Section 1201 of
Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations.
(f) Every owner of a motor vehicle, including every owner or
operator of a taxicab, as defined in Section 27908, or a limousine
for hire, operated on a highway shall maintain safety belts in good
working order for the use of occupants of the vehicle. The safety
belts shall conform to motor vehicle safety standards established by
the United States Department of Transportation. This subdivision
does not, however, require installation or maintenance of safety
belts where not required by the laws of the United States applicable
to the vehicle at the time of its initial sale.
(g) This section does not apply to a passenger or operator with a
physically disabling condition or medical condition which would
prevent appropriate restraint in a safety belt, if the condition is
duly certified by a licensed physician and surgeon or by a licensed
chiropractor who shall state the nature of the condition, as well as
the reason the restraint is inappropriate. This section also does
not apply to a public employee, when in an authorized emergency
vehicle as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section
165, or to any passenger in any seat behind the front seat of an
authorized emergency vehicle as defined in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (b) of Section 165 operated by the public employee,
unless required by the agency employing the public employee.
(h) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 42001, any
violation of subdivision (d), (e), or (f) is an infraction punishable
by a fine, including all penalty assessments and court costs imposed
on the convicted person, of not more than twenty dollars ($20) for a
first offense, and a fine, including all penalty assessments and
court costs imposed on the convicted person, of not more than fifty
dollars ($50) for each subsequent offense. In lieu of the fine and
any penalty assessment or court costs, the court, pursuant to Section
42005, may order that a person convicted of a first offense attend a
school for traffic violators or a driving school in which the proper
use of safety belts is demonstrated.
(i) For any violation of subdivision (d), (e), or (f), in addition
to the fines provided for pursuant to subdivision (h) and the
penalty assessments provided for pursuant to Section 1464 of the
Penal Code, an additional penalty assessment of two dollars ($2)
shall be levied for any first offense, and an additional penalty
assessment of five dollars ($5) shall be levied for any subsequent
offense.
All moneys collected pursuant to this subdivision shall be
utilized in accordance with Section 1464 of the Penal Code.
(j) In any civil action, a violation of subdivision (d), (e), or
(f) or information of a violation of subdivision (h) shall not
establish negligence as a matter of law or negligence per se for
comparative fault purposes, but negligence may be proven as a fact
without regard to the violation.
(k) If the United States Secretary of Transportation fails to
adopt safety standards for manual safety belt systems by September 1,
1989, no motor vehicle manufactured after that date for sale or sold
in this state shall be registered unless it contains a manual safety
belt system which meets the performance standards applicable to
automatic crash protection devices adopted by the Secretary of
Transportation pursuant to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No.
208 (49 C.F.R. 571.208) as in effect on January 1, 1985.
(l) Each motor vehicle offered for original sale in this state
which has been manufactured on or after September 1, 1989, shall
comply with the automatic restraint requirements of Section S4.1.2.1
of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 (49 C.F.R. 571.208),
as published in Volume 49 of the Federal Register, No. 138, page
29009. Any automobile manufacturer who sells or delivers a motor
vehicle subject to the requirements of this subdivision, and fails to
comply with this subdivision, shall be punished by a fine of not
more than five hundred dollars ($500) for each sale or delivery of a
noncomplying motor vehicle.
(m) Compliance with subdivision (k) or (l) by a manufacturer shall
be made by self-certification in the same manner as
self-certification is accomplished under federal law.
(n) This section does not apply to a person actually engaged in
delivery of newspapers to customers along the person's route if the
person is properly restrained by a safety belt prior to commencing
and subsequent to completing delivery on the route.
(o) This section does not apply to a person actually engaged in
collection and delivery activities as a rural delivery carrier for
the United States Postal Service if the person is properly restrained
by a safety belt prior to stopping at the first box and subsequent
to stopping at the last box on the route.
(p) This section does not apply to a driver actually engaged in
the collection of solid waste or recyclable materials along that
driver's collection route if the driver is properly restrained by a
safety belt prior to commencing and subsequent to completing the
collection route.
(q) Subdivisions (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) shall become
inoperative immediately upon the date that the United States
Secretary of Transportation, or his or her delegate, determines to
rescind the portion of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No.
208 (49 C.F.R. 571.208) which requires the installation of automatic
restraints in new motor vehicles, except that those subdivisions
shall not become inoperative if the secretary's decision to rescind
that Standard No. 208 is not based, in any respect, on the enactment
or continued operation of those subdivisions.
SEC. 4. Section 31401.5 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
31401.5. (a) The department shall develop, by regulation,
specifications for a display sticker that shall be clearly displayed
on every farm labor vehicle. This display sticker shall list the
inspection certification date pursuant to this section and the "800"
telephone reporting system required by Section 2429.
(b) The regulations of the department shall require every owner or
operator of a farm labor vehicle to request the scheduling of the
inspection required under subdivision (b) of Section 31401 as
follows:
(1) The owner or operator of a farm labor vehicle that has a
current inspection certificate pursuant to Section 31401 shall make
the request for inspection not later than four weeks prior to the
expiration date of the certificate.
(2) The owner or operator of a farm labor vehicle required to have
its initial inspection shall make the request for inspection not
later than three business days prior to the requested date.
(c) In no event shall the owner or operator of a farm labor
vehicle allow the operation of a farm labor vehicle without the
proper certification requirements specified under Section 31401.
SEC. 5. Section 31405 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
31405. (a) On or before May 1, 2000, every farm labor vehicle
issued an inspection certificate under Section 31401 between October
1, 1998, and October 1, 1999, shall be equipped at each passenger
position with a Type 1 or Type 2 seatbelt assembly, conforming to the
specifications set forth in Section 571.209 of Title 49 of the Code
of Federal Regulations, that is anchored to the vehicle in a manner
that conforms to the specifications of Section 571.210 of Title 49 of
the Code of Federal Regulations.
(b) On or after October 1, 1999, the department may not issue an
initial inspection certificate under Section 31401 to any vehicle
that is not equipped with a seatbelt assembly at each passenger
position, as described in subdivision (a).
(c) The owner of a farm labor vehicle shall maintain all seatbelt
assemblies and seatbelt assembly anchorages required under this
section in good working order for the use of passengers.
(d) No person may operate a farm labor vehicle on a highway unless
that person and all passengers are properly restrained by a seatbelt
assembly that conforms to this section.
(e) The department shall adopt regulations to implement this
section.
SEC. 6. The Department of the California Highway Patrol shall
prepare and submit to the Legislature reports on July 1, 2000,
January 1, 2001, and January 1, 2002, that evaluate the
implementation of Sections 1 to 4, inclusive, of this bill and the
effectiveness of its provisions in improving the safety of farm labor
vehicles.
SEC. 7. The sum of one million seven hundred fifty thousand
dollars ($1,750,000) is hereby appropriated from the Motor Vehicle
Account in the State Transportation Fund to the Department the
California Highway Patrol for the purpose of increasing the number of
special California Highway Patrol officers charged with enforcing
laws prohibiting illegal transportation of agricultural workers,
including, but not limited to, enforcing the requirement under
Section 27315 of the Vehicle Code that farm labor vehicles, as
defined in Section 322 of the Vehicle Code, be equipped with safety
belts.
SEC. 8. 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.
SEC. 9. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to provide, at the earliest possible time, for the safety
of persons transported in farm labor vehicles, it is necessary that
this act take effect immediately.