BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1951
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 5, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 1951 (Ammiano) - As Amended: March 9, 2010
SUBJECT : Accidents caused by negligence
SUMMARY : Makes it a misdemeanor to cause an injury to a
pedestrian or bicyclist due to grossly negligent driving.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Treats the operation of a motor vehicle in a grossly negligent
manner resulting in a collision with a pedestrian or bicyclist
that causes an injury to the pedestrian or bicyclist as a
misdemeanor.
2)Makes such a violation punishable by a fine of not more than
$1,000 and requires the offender to complete a course of
instruction at a licensed traffic violator school.
3)Requires a person accused of such an offense to be present in
all court proceedings related to the prosecution of the
violation.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires, with exceptions, a person convicted reckless driving
that causes bodily injury to a person other than the driver to
be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not less
than 30 days nor more than six months or by a fine of not less
than $220 nor more than $1,000, or by both the fine and
imprisonment.
2)Provides that any infraction-level violation of the statutory
rules of the road that results in bodily injury or great
bodily injury to another person is considered to be a public
offense of unsafe operation of a motor vehicle punishable by a
base fine of $70 or $95.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, California bicyclists,
pedestrians and other so-called "vulnerable users" face
disproportionate dangers when sharing our roadways with motor
AB 1951
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vehicles. Citing a high number of bicyclist and pedestrian
injuries and fatalities, he terms the treatment of negligent
drivers hitting other roadway users a "traffic justice" problem.
"Unless the police investigating a crash find the driver under
the influence of alcohol or drugs, or the driver knowingly flees
the scene and is later apprehended, there is little that can be
brought as a legal charge against that driver, even if he has
seriously injured or killed a pedestrian or bicyclist due to his
careless driving. Often such tragically careless drivers are
released without even a simple citation or fine, and their
victims are left to seek some sort of compensation through
insurance claims or civil suits."
The author further contends that "prosecutors are reluctant to
bring criminal charges such as vehicular manslaughter in cases
of driver negligence, even when they are appropriate, because of
the difficulty in winning convictions with juries sympathetic to
the drivers being tried, as well as the stigma not only of a
criminal conviction for a 'random accident' but also the
perceived hardship of revocation (or even temporary suspension)
of a person's license to drive, often construed to be a burden
greater than the life-changing injury a driver's negligence has
caused to another person and her family and friends."
Consequently, this bill would establish a misdemeanor,
punishable by a fine but no jail time, for the grossly negligent
operation of a motor vehicle that results in a collision causing
an injury to a bicyclist or pedestrian. This, according to the
author, "would provide a mechanism for police and prosecutors to
bring non-criminal charges to acts of careless driving which
injure vulnerable users of the road, without the burden of
establishing intent, and obliging the offender to appear in
court."
This bill seeks to establish a more meaningful penalty for
driving in a manner that injures a bicyclist or pedestrian. The
base fine for such an offense is $70 if bodily injury is
involved, and $95 for great bodily injury. By way of
comparison, the base fine for passing a school bus with flashing
red signals is $150 and the base fine for a first violation of
unauthorized parking in a disabled spot is $250. (Assessments
and fees make the punishment for all these offenses
significantly higher than simply paying the base fine.)
It is not clear that it is necessary to establish a new
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misdemeanor, which is in fact a criminal categorization, in
order to sufficiently punish and discourage negligent behavior
that results in injury. Motorists charged with misdemeanors can
demand a jury trial, which would put a strain on an already
overburdened court system. The misdemeanor charge would also
cause the defendant to have a criminal record. Finally, the
bill's requirement for the defendant to be present at all court
proceedings, while understandable as a means of impressing on
negligent drivers the consequences of their behavior, is not
consistent with how other misdemeanors are adjudicated.
A simpler approach to the issue raised by the bill might be
simply to raise the base fine to a level deemed more
commensurate with the offense.
Legislative history : The current fine structure for these
offenses was established by SB 1021 (Bowen) Chapter 898,
Statutes of 2006.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc.
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093