BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1942
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 19, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 1942 (Fletcher) - As Introduced: February 17, 2010
SUBJECT : Video event recorder: vehicle windshields
SUMMARY : Provides that a video event recorder with the
capability of monitoring driver performance may be mounted in
a seven-inch square in the lower corner of a vehicle
windshield farthest from the driver or in a five-inch square
in the lower corner on the windshield nearest the driver and
outside of an airbag deployment zone.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Generally prohibits any person from driving a motor vehicle
with any object or material placed, displayed, installed,
affixed, or applied on the windshield or side or rear windows
that obstructs or reduces the driver's clear view, with
exceptions. These exceptions include global positioning
system devices and electronic toll transponders.
2)Requires vehicle manufacturers to disclose in the owner's
manual whenever a vehicle sold or leased in California is
equipped with one or more recording devices commonly referred
to as "event data recorders" or "sensing and diagnostic
modules;" defines "recording devices" as those that:
a) Record how fast and in which direction the motor vehicle
is traveling;
b) Record a history of where the motor vehicle travels;
c) Record steering performance;
d) Record brake performance, including, but not limited to,
whether brakes were applied before an accident;
e) Record the driver's seat belt status; and,
f) Have the ability to transmit information concerning an
accident in which the motor vehicle has been involved to a
central communications system at the moment the accident
AB 1942
Page 2
occurs.
3)Provides that data recorded on a recording device may not be
downloaded or otherwise retrieved by a person other than the
registered owner of the motor vehicle, except under specific
conditions.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The author introduced this bill to reduce motor
vehicle deaths by allowing the use of video event recorders that
can lead to safe driving habits and reduced accidents. Studies
of both teens and commercial drivers found that the use of video
event recorders, paired with behavioral coaching, improved
driver safety and reduced accidents. Video event recorders
typically are operated on a loop and only save recordings in
events such as quick stops or accidents. The records are used
to analyze a driver's actions during the events to coach
positive driving behavior.
The American Civil Liberties Union, while not opposed to AB
1942, expressed a number of privacy concerns with this bill,
including:
4)The bill should state explicitly that the recorder data
belongs to the vehicle owner.
5)An employee driver should be given the opportunity to consent
or refuse to consent to the use of the event data recorder in
the vehicle he or she drives.
6)The vehicle owner should have the ability to disable the video
event recorder and the ability to turn it off and on.
7)Data collection should be restricted to 30 seconds prior to
and after the event that triggers the video event recorder.
Author's amendments : The author intends to take the following
amendments in committee to provide more specificity to eligible
uses of the video event recorder as well as to the technology
that will be allowed:
8)Add to the reasons for which a video event recorder can be
used to include the capacity to monitor driver performance to
improve driver safety.
AB 1942
Page 3
9)Define "video event recorder" to mean a video recorder that
continuously records in a digital loop, recording audio,
video, and G-force levels, but only saves video when triggered
by an unusual motion or crash or when operated by the driver
to monitor driver performance.
Previous legislation : AB 213 (Leslie) Chapter 427, Statutes of
2003, requires a manufacturer of a new motor vehicle sold or
leased in this state that is equipped with one or more recording
devices, commonly referred to as ''event data recorders (EDR)''
or ''sensing and diagnostic modules (SDM),'' to disclose that
fact in the owner's manual for the vehicle.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
DriveCam
MACTEC
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Janet Dawson / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093