BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, FINANCE,
AND INSURANCE
Senator Michael J. Machado, Chair
SB 629 (Correa) Hearing Date: April 18,
2007
As Introduced February 22, 2007
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
SUMMARY Would delete a code section requiring peace officers
and firefighters involved in a vehicular accident to submit the
details of that accident to their private automobile insurance
carrier within 30 days of the accident.
DIGEST
Existing law
1. Requires any peace officer or firefighter who has been involved
in an accident to submit a written statement signed under
penalty of perjury or a copy of the incident report filed with
his or her employer to his or her private automobile insurer.
The statement is required to indicate whether the individual was
operating an authorized emergency vehicle at the time of the
accident (Insurance Code Section 557.6);
2. Provides that no peace officer, member of the California
Highway Patrol, or firefighter shall be required to report any
accident in which he or she is involved while operating an
authorized emergency vehicle in the performance of his or her
duty during the hours of his or her employment to any person who
has issued that individual a private automobile insurance policy
(Insurance Code Section 557.5);
3. Requires the driver of a motor vehicle who is involved in an
accident that results in property damage over $750 or in bodily
injury or in the death of a person to report the accident to the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) within ten days, either
personally or through an insurance agent, broker, or legal
representative, but further provides that a report is not
required if the vehicle involved in the accident was owned or
SB 629 (Correa), Page 2
leased by or under the direction of the United States,
California, or a local agency (Vehicle Code Section 16000);
4. Requires the driver of a vehicle that is owned, operated, or
leased by the driver's employer and with the permission of the
employer and that is involved in accident to report the accident
to their employer within five days of the accident, and requires
the employer to notify DMV of the accident within ten days after
receiving the employee's report, as specified (Vehicle Code
Section 16002);
5. Requires every driver and every owner of a motor vehicle to at
all times be able to establish financial responsibility and to
at all times carry in the vehicle evidence of the form of
financial responsibility in effect for the vehicle (Vehicle Code
Section 16020);
6. Does not explicitly require the driver of a vehicle involved in
an accident to report that accident to their private insurance
carrier.
This bill
1. Would delete Insurance Code Section 557.6 (see explanation
above under Existing Law #1).
COMMENTS
1. Purpose of the bill To eliminate a code section the
sponsor believes is both in conflict with existing Insurance
Code Section 557.5 and is inappropriate.
2. Background Insurance Code Section 557.5, the section that
provides no accident report to one's private insurance
carrier is necessary if a peace officer, CHP officer, or
firefighter is involved in an on-duty accident, was added to
the code in 1973. Insurance Code Section 557.6, the section
that requires peace officers and firefighters to notify
their private insurance carriers about accidents in which
they are involved, was added to the code in 1982.
Section 557.6 appears to cover all accidents in which a peace
officer or firefighter is involved, not just on-duty
accidents. The only information that must be reported is
SB 629 (Correa), Page 3
whether the accident involved an authorized emergency
vehicle. Thus, Section 557.6 conflicts with Section 557.5
with regards to on-duty accidents but is not in direct
conflict with 557.5 with respect to off-duty accidents.
Vehicle Code Section 16002, enacted in 1974, addresses
situations in which any employee (including a peace officer
or firefighter) is involved in an accident in their
employer's vehicle, regardless of whether they are on- or
off-duty at the time. Specifically, Section 16002 requires
employees involved in accidents while in their employer's
vehicle to notify their employer of the accident and
requires employers to notify DMV about the accident. Under
Section 16002, a peace officer or firefighter involved in an
accident in an authorized emergency vehicle must notify
their employer of that accident.
Thus, the only portion of Section 557.6 that is not duplicative
of or in conflict with another code section enacted before
it is the requirement for the peace officer or firefighter
involved in an accident to notify their private insurance
carrier of that accident and to inform the carrier whether
that accident occurred in an authorized emergency vehicle.
No other section of law requires individuals to report
accidents in which they were involved to their insurance
company.
3. Support . This bill's sponsor, the Peace Officers Research
Association of California (PORAC) believes that Insurance
Code Sections 557.5 and 557.6 conflict, and that 557.6
should be deleted because its provisions are inappropriate
and have the potential for abuse. PORAC feels strongly that
a peace officer who may be involved in an accident related
to the dangerous aspects of their job, such as high-speed
police pursuits, should not be held personally responsible
for that on-duty act.
The Santa Ana Police Officers Association, Long Beach Police
Officers Association, Los Angeles County Professional Peace
Officers Association, and California Fraternal Order of
Police, writing in jointly, do not understand the usefulness
of information required by Section 557.6, given that the
private insurance company is not liable on behalf of the
officer or firefighter while they are on duty.
4. Opposition None received.
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5. Questions
a. Should peace officers and firefighters be
singled out as the only individuals required to report
accidents in which they are involved to their private
insurance carriers?
POSITIONS
Support
Peace Officers Research Association of California (sponsor)
Santa Ana Police Officers Association
Long Beach Police Officers Association
Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
California Fraternal Order of Police
Office of the San Bernardino County Sheriff
California State Sheriffs Association
California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association
California Association of Highway Patrolmen
Oppose
None received
Consultant: Eileen Roush (916) 651-4102