BILL ANALYSIS
AB 134
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 134 (Blakeslee)
As Amended June 2, 2009
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |79-0 |(May 4, 2009) |SENATE: |34-0 |(July 9, 2009) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY : Makes parents responsible for illegal operation of
off-highway vehicles (OHVs) by children under 14. Specifically,
this bill :
The Senate amendments make a grammatical change in order to
accommodate the addition of coauthors.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires that an OHV operator must be able to reach and
operate all controls necessary to safely operate the vehicle.
2)Prohibits a parent or guardian of a child under the age of 14,
or a person who is authorized by the parent or guardian to
supervise that child, from allowing that child to operate an
all-terrain vehicles (ATV) without direct adult supervision
and without the child having met existing child safety
requirements.
3)Requires a $125 fine or the completion of a court-ordered
safety training course for a first conviction of a parent or
guardian, or a person authorized by the parent or guardian to
supervise their child, who allowed a child under 14 to operate
an ATV illegally on public lands.
4)Requires a fine of between $125 and $250 for a second
violation.
5)Requires a fine of between $250 and $500 for a third or
subsequent violation.
6)Requires the court to order a child who rides an ATV in
violation of existing safety requirements to attend and
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complete an ATV safety training course accompanied by the
person who was to have supervised him or her and to provide
the court a copy of his or her safety certificate upon
completion of the training.
7)Requires a county clerk to report specific violations to the
California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) so that DMV can
track violation point counts.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, there will be minor state and enforcement
costs and penalty revenues. Local costs would not be
state-reimbursable. Programming costs for DMV to receive
information on convictions for these new violations would be
minimal and absorbable.
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill is intended to
"follow up" on the success of legislation signed into law in
2006 related to ATVs and apply similar standards to users of
OHVs.
AB 2755 (Blakeslee), Chapter 196, Statutes of 2006, prohibited a
parent or guardian of a child under the age of 14, or a person
who is authorized by the parent or guardian to supervise that
child, from allowing that child to operate an ATV without direct
adult supervision and without the child having met existing
child safety requirements.
Prior to the establishment of existing law, an infraction for
illegal ATV use by a child under 14 was assessed against a child
rather than the parent, guardian, or responsible adult
supervising the offending child. Consequently, AB 2755 amended
the law to allow enforcement officers to ticket those
responsible for supervising these children. In a previous
committee analysis of that bill, the author noted "that since
parental responsibility is the key to safe ridership by younger
ATV users, directing the infraction to the supervising parent or
guardian will encourage responsible ridership without fostering
an environment that negatively affects children."
AB 134 intends to duplicate efforts related to ATVs under
previous legislation and have similar provisions be applied to
OHVs. Currently, it is a violation to operate an OHV if the
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operator is unable to reach and operate all controls. If a
child is under 14 years or age, this bill assesses that
violation to the supervising adult rather than the child. It is
possible that a parent that allows for the illegal operation of
ATV by a child under the age of 14 can be fined under existing
law, and be fined under provisions of this bill, if the child
cannot reach and operate all controls of the ATV, since an ATV
is also considered an OHV.
Committee comments: It is important to note that although the
approach to address OHV youth safety is similar in this bill as
in previous legislation related to youth ATV safety, a
substantial difference can be seen in the escalating penalties
amounts. In AB 2755, ATV fines are much higher and range from
$125 up to $500, whereas in this bill, fines range from $35 up
to $75.
This discrepancy was considered by the Legislature and is not
accidental. Differences in fines structures are a result of
differences in training requirements in the ATV law as well as
parental and rider approach toward OHV and ATV usage.
Historically, attention on youth ATV accidents occurring almost
exclusively on private property, without adult supervision and
on adult-sized ATVs, has spurred a greater emphasis on required
training and supervision for those using public lands. Such
training is provided to families by the ATV manufacturers upon
purchase of a new ATV or free training can be obtained from the
California Department of Parks and Recreation for youth whose
family has purchased previously owned ATVs.
Conversely, dirt bike (off-road motorcycle) rider accident rates
have traditionally been lower than ATV accidents since the
manual dexterity (including balancing on two wheels) necessary
to operate such a vehicle is a bit more challenging than
operating an ATV with four wheels. Thus, riders and parents
approach dirt bike operation more cautiously.
Although there are other types of OHVs, such as karts and mini
sand rails that youth sometimes operate, over 85% of OHVs
registered in California are either dirt bikes or ATVs. The
remaining OHVs are mostly adult sized sand vehicles and
snowmobiles.
Considering the ATV safety training requirements and the
difference in complexity of operation that exist between ATVs
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and other OHVs, it appears reasonable that differences exist in
fine penalty structures.
Previous legislation: AB 2755 (Blakeslee), Chapter 196,
Statutes of 2006, prohibited a parent or guardian of a child
under the age of 14, or a person who is authorized by the parent
or guardian to supervise that child, from allowing that child to
operate an ATV without direct adult supervision and without the
child having met existing child safety requirements.
SB 742 (Steinberg), Chapter 541, Statutes of 2007, extended by
five years to January 1, 2013, the sunset on OHV program at the
Department of Parks and Recreation, and makes substantial
changes to the administration of the OHV program.
Analysis Prepared by : Alejandro Esparza / TRANS. / (916)
319-2093
FN: 0001649