BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 213|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 213
Author: Lowenthal (D)
Amended: 3/25/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMM : 11-0, 6/9/09
AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, Ashburn, DeSaulnier, Harman,
Hollingsworth, Kehoe, Oropeza, Pavley, Simitian, Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 4/2/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Vehicles: parking
SOURCE : City of Long Beach
DIGEST : This bill allows cities and counties, under
specified conditions, to permit parking on the left side of
two-way local residential streets that dead-end with no
cul-de-sac or other designated turnaround area.
ANALYSIS : Under current law, drivers must generally park
their vehicles in the same direction as the flow of traffic
(i.e., on the right side of two-way roadways and on either
side of one-way roadways). The premise for this
requirement is that it helps to avoid head-on collisions
with oncoming traffic that would be risked when entering or
exiting parking spaces that face the flow of traffic.
Under current law, a driver may back a vehicle onto a
street or highway only when such a movement can be made
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with reasonable safety.
This bill allows a city or county, by ordinance or
resolution, to permit drivers to park vehicles on the
left-hand side of residential streets that dead-end with no
cul-de-sac or other designated turnaround area, if the city
or county makes a finding supported by a professional
engineering study that the ordinance or resolution is
justified by the need to facilitate the safe and orderly
movement of vehicles. A city or county may limit
application of the ordinance or resolution to certain
streets or portions of streets, and the ordinance or
resolution does not apply until the city or county erects
proper signage.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/11/09)
City of Long Beach (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
Long Beach Police Officers Association
Peninsula Beach Preservation Group
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/11/09)
California Highway Patrol
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
the Peninsula area of Long Beach has a significant number
of narrow, parking impacted, dead-end streets with no
cul-de-sacs. It is very difficult for drivers to turn
around on these streets, and when they do, the likelihood
of a fender bender accident is great. As a result,
residents and visitors have long parked their vehicles
facing the wrong direction on the street, in violation of
the Vehicle Code. The city has issued parking citations
for these offenses, which has led to frustrated residents
who believe it is safer to park facing the wrong direction
than to turn around. This bill allows a city to permit
left-side parking on such streets provided that it
facilitates the safe and orderly movement of vehicles.
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ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Highway Patrol
(CHP) believes that parking concerns affecting a few small
streets in selected communities should be handled at the
local level without a change to state statutes. As an
alternative, CHP encourages the City of Long Beach to
provide additional space for vehicles to turn around on the
one-way streets by implementing a parking permit system or
limiting parking to one side of the street.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava,
Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Davis, Hall, Lieu, Ma, Tran
JA:nl 6/11/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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