BILL ANALYSIS
AB 808
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 11, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Mike Eng, Chair
AB 808 (Fuentes) - As Introduced: February 26, 2009
SUBJECT : Driving under the influence: hearing requests
SUMMARY : Allows 90 days for a driving-under-the-influence (DUI)
suspect to request a hearing to contest a license suspension or
revocation. Specifically, this bill : Increases to 90 days,
from the current ten-day allowance, the period of time during
which a person arrested for driving with an unlawful blood
alcohol content (BAC) or for refusing to submit to alcohol
screening may request a hearing to appeal his or her driver's
license being suspended or revoked.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to suspend or
revoke a person's driver's license if that person had 0.08% or
more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood, or was under
21 years of age and had a BAC of 0.01% or greater, or was
driving a vehicle that requires a commercial driver's license
when the person had a BAC of 0.04% or more.
2)Requires DMV to suspend or revoke a person's driver's license
if that person refuses the request of a peace officer to
submit to, or fails to complete, a chemical or a preliminary
alcohol screening test after the officer had reasonable cause
to believe the person had been driving a motor vehicle under
the influence of alcohol or drugs.
3)Allows a person who has received a notice of suspension or
revocation of his or her driver's license under those
circumstances to request a hearing on the matter. If the
person wishes to have a hearing before the effective date of
the order of suspension or revocation, the request for a
hearing must be made within 10 days of the receipt of the
notice of the order of suspension or revocation.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Under existing law, a peace officer arresting a DUI
suspect confiscates the suspect's driver's license and issues a
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document that serves both as a 30-day temporary license and as a
notice of suspension (effective in 30 days), complete with
instructions on requesting a hearing within 10 days. If a
hearing is requested within that timeframe, the suspension will
be stayed until a decision is rendered, if that decision is
beyond the original 30 days. The only issues which may be
considered at the hearing are whether the officer had reasonable
cause to stop the person, whether it was a lawful arrest, and
whether the subject had been driving with an excessive BAC.
The author of this bill contends that people arrested for DUI
violations are often unaware of their right to request an
administrative hearing or are unaware of the strict time
restrictions on requesting a hearing. "Oftentimes, only those
who can afford to hire private defense counsel are made aware of
this right and are in a position to make a hearing request.
Those who do not hire private counsel often take no action until
their first court appearance - usually long after the strict 10
day appeal window. Public defenders and other court-appointed
counsel often never have the chance to educate their client
about the option of a DMV hearing."
The author asserts that challenging the suspension or revocation
of driving privileges is vital for those who must continue to
drive to work or school. "Changing the time period to request
an administrative hearing from 10 days to 90 days provides an
opportunity to better inform more drivers of their right to
challenge an administrative driver's license suspension." The
Teamsters add that, "Most drivers are unaware of the due process
rights they have when they are accused of a DUI. The short 10
day time period to request a hearing often lapses with very
significant consequences." However, according to Mothers
Against Drunk Driving, "AB 808 will frustrate DMV's efforts to
get drunk drivers off California's roads by allowing possible
chronic drunk drivers to continue driving for as much as 80
extra days before getting a hearing to determine the validity of
their license suspension or revocation. MADD believes current
law affords the DUI defendant plenty of procedural due process
protections as currently written."
Suggested Committee amendment : Expanding the window for
appealing a driver's license suspension or revocation beyond the
current 10-day period would effectively allow a chronically
impaired driver to legally operate for both the entire 30-day
life of his or her temporary license as well as whatever
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subsequent period of time it then takes DMV to schedule and
complete an appeal hearing, assuming the appeal request is filed
at the end of the 30-day license's effective life. This would
seem to pose an unreasonable threat to public safety. As an
alternative, the bill could be amended to allow 21 days for a
suspect to request an appeal, so that DMV would have an
opportunity to complete the appeal process within the 30-day
term of the temporary license. Additionally, in order to raise
suspects' awareness of the appeals process, instructions for
requesting a hearing might be required to be highlighted by the
arresting officer and/or on the face of the document that grants
the suspect a temporary license.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
Opposition
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093