BILL ANALYSIS
AB 882
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Mike Eng, Chair
AB 882 (Fuller) - As Introduced: February 26, 2009
SUBJECT : Highways: victim signs
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Transportation (Caltrans),
upon request of an immediate family member or another
individual, to erect signs at specified locations in memory of a
relative lost in a vehicular accident. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires Caltrans to design, construct, place, and maintain
along state highways, signs that read: "Please Drive Safely"
followed by "In Memory of (victim's name)."
2)Defines "victims" to mean a person who was killed in a
vehicular accident unrelated to drugs or alcohol. Signs may
memorialize more than one victim.
3)Requires these signs to be placed along state highways in
accordance with Caltrans polices and any applicable federal
limitation or conditions on highway signage.
4)Allows the placement of a sign to be located at or near the
sites of the fatal accidents, if it is safe and practical to
do so.
5)Requires payment of the party requesting the sign to cover
sign costs and administrative fees.
6)Authorizes an immediate family member, or someone with the
approval of an immediate family member, to request a memorial
sign for such a victim. If there is opposition to the sign
from another immediate family member, no sign would be placed.
7)Requires the sign to remain posted for seven years or until it
is determined that the sign is no longer serviceable,
whichever date is first.
EXISTING LAW:
AB 882
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1)Vests Caltrans with the responsibility for maintaining and
operating the state highway system, including the installation
and maintenance of highway safety, directional and
informational signs.
2)Require Caltrans to design, construct, place and maintain
signs along highways stating "Please Don't Drink and Drive"
and the victim's name upon the sign.
3)Limits the signs' eligibility to victims of specified criminal
drunk and drug-related driving offenses involving a conviction
of the person at fault or when the person causing the accident
violated the drunk/drugged driving provisions but died in the
accident or was not prosecuted due to mental incompetence.
4)Authorizes an "Adopt-A-Highway" program for the maintenance
and beautification of highway rights-of-way, including
periodic litter removal along a roadway section by a
sponsoring organization or individual in exchange for the
placement of a roadside sign identifying the sponsoring group
or individual.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, "fatal accidents sites on
state highway often become unofficial memorials to their
victims. Although grieving family members often create
memorials that include flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals,
they are quickly removed by Caltrans since it is unlawful to
place such items along a highway." The author adds memorial
signs can often help families of victims through the grieving
process.
The author intends to build on the success of the existing
victim memorial sign program that has been in place since 2002.
The current memorial sign program allows for any victims of
accidents involving drunk driving or driving under the influence
of drugs (except for the intoxicated driver themselves) to be
memorialized. The program applies to accidents in which the
at-fault driver was convicted of second-degree murder, gross
vehicular manslaughter, or vehicular manslaughter while
intoxicated.
The establishment of the victim memorial sign program required
Caltrans to provide the Legislature with an evaluation of the
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program by January 1, 2006. That report indicated that Caltrans
had installed 29 signs on state highways in 16 counties.
The Caltrans report also pointed out that the number of
alcohol-involved fatalities decreased from 789 to 710 during for
the three-year periods after and before enactment, although it
could not be ascertained if the drop was related to the memorial
sign program. Caltrans also noted that it had not observed a
reduction in makeshift memorials despite the program being
created in part to reduce such unauthorized roadside memorials.
Despites such findings, Caltrans endorsed and extended the
program indefinitely, citing benefits to victims' families,
local communities, and the state for very little cost and
effort.
Existing law requires Caltrans to charge the requesting party a
fee to cover the cost of the sign and the program. Caltrans
estimates the cost of each sign to be $1000. This represents an
average cost of $630 for administration and labor, $236 for the
signs, and $134 for equipment, posts, and hardware. The signs
remain in place for seven years or until the sign is no longer
serviceable, whichever comes first.
Committee comments:
1)It is unclear if changes proposed under this bill would
greatly expand the existing victim memorial sign program.
Under the current program, a victim can be memorialized if the
at-fault driver of the accident was convicted of second-degree
murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, or vehicular
manslaughter while intoxicated. This bill does not establish
criteria and would allow a sign to be erected if a person is a
victim of a vehicular accident. According to 2007 data, there
were 1,494 fatal collisions on state highways of which 334
were under the influence of alcohol. As is evident, the
number of request for signs could be much higher, under this
bill than under the existing program.
2)An expansion of the victim memorial sign program could lead to
more signs being posted, adding to driver distraction.
Additional memorial signage on the road could discourage
drivers from using signs as a source of information, thus
altering behavior and possibly leading to erratic driving.
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3)Under this bill, the victim memorial signs are vague and do
not provide a direct consequence to the motorist as originally
intended with the development of the existing program. Under
the existing program, a victim is memorialized after a
statement that reads, "Please Don't Drink and Drive." Thus, a
driver viewing the sign can correlated the consequences of
driving under the influence with death. Under this bill, the
sign would read "Please Drive Safely," then list the
memorialized victim. Thus, a driver can correlate that a
person passed away due to a vehicle accident, but may not
change their behavior since they do not what caused the
accident and may believe they are not committing the same
behavior.
Related legislation : AB 1781 (Mountjoy), Chapter 81, Statues of
2006, deleted the sunset on a program to allow DUI victim signs
to be placed along state highways.
AB 965 (Mountjoy), Chapter 864, Statutes of 2001, created the
"Please Don't Drink and Drive" victim memorial sign program.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
ABATE of California, INC
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Alejandro Esparza / TRANS. / (916)
319-2093