BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 2144
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: gilmore
VERSION: 6/10/10
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 29, 2010
SUBJECT:
Commercial motor vehicles: drivers
DESCRIPTION:
This bill amends various provisions of California state law to
conform with the requirements of new federal law governing
commercial vehicle drivers.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law permits a court to order a continuance of a
proceeding against a person who receives a notice to appear for
a traffic offense in order for that driver to attend a traffic
violator school. Successful completion of the traffic violator
school course results in a dismissal of the complaint. The
Department of Motor Vehicles' (DMV) records pertaining to a
driver's traffic violator school dismissal are confidential.
Existing law prohibits a driver from operating a commercial
vehicle for a period of between 90 days and three years if the
person is convicted of violating an out-of-service order and
imposes a penalty of between $1,100 and $2,750 for anyone
convicted of violating an out-of-service order (i.e., operating
a commercial motor vehicle when a California Highway Patrol or
other authorized officer has deemed it unsafe or out of
compliance with federal regulations). An employer who knowingly
allows or requires a driver to violate an out-of-service order
is subject to a penalty of $2,750 to $11,000.
Existing law prohibits a driver from operating a commercial
vehicle for 60 days:
If the person is convicted of a second serious traffic offense
within three years in a commercial vehicle; or
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If the person is convicted of a second serious traffic offense
within three years in a noncommercial vehicle that results in
a revocation, cancellation, or suspension of the driver's
license.
A third offense results in a 120-day period in which a person
may not operate a commercial motor vehicle.
Existing law makes it illegal to drive a vehicle onto a railroad
or rail transit crossing under certain conditions.
This bill :
1.Modifies provisions of state law related to traffic violator
schools to reflect that the referral to a traffic violator
school, now a dismissal, is a de facto guilty plea and
conviction and not a dismissal of the complaint.
2.Provides that DMV records related to a traffic violator school
conviction, normally held confidential, are not confidential
if the person convicted holds a class A, class B, or
commercial class C driver's license or is operating a
commercial motor vehicle.
3.Increases the length of disqualification periods and the
amount of penalties related to out-of-service convictions such
that they range from 180 days to three years and from $2,500
to $5,000 for drivers. The bill increases the maximum penalty
for employers to $11,000.
4.Provides that a driver shall not operate a commercial vehicle
for a period of 60 days if the person is convicted of a second
serious traffic violation within three years if the incident
involves either a commercial or noncommercial motor vehicle,
and for 120 days for a third offense within three years.
5.Distinguishes between two separate railroad crossing
violations depending on whether the driver's vehicle is on the
tracks or crosses them to an unsafe position on the other
side.
6.Makes other, technical, non-substantive changes.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose . DMV sponsored this bill in order to bring
AB 2144 (GILMORE) Page 3
California into conformance with current federal
regulations required under the Motor Carrier Safety
Improvement Act (MCSIA).
In November 2008, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration conducted a Commercial Driver License
Program review audit in California. If California is unable
to resolve findings from that audit by the next audit
(anticipated being in early 2012), the state may be found
out of compliance and may face sanctions. Failure to
achieve compliance with federal regulations may result in a
significant loss of state highway funds and grant money.
The initial penalties for substantial non-compliance are a
five percent loss of federal highway aid, complete loss of
all federal grants, and a $5,000-a-day fine. If a state
remains out of compliance for a second year, the loss of
highway funds is increased to 10 percent. Failure to comply
for a third year results in the Federal Motor Carrier
Safety Administration decertifying the state. If a state is
decertified, it may no longer issue or renew commercial
licenses.
DMV representatives also assert that the bill's proposed
changes to state law will ensure that only safe drivers
operate commercial motor vehicles on California's highways.
Commercial motor vehicle drivers are held to a high
standard because they earn their living by operating large,
heavy vehicles and in some cases, transporting passengers.
In recognition of this fact, Congress has established
national guidelines with the passage of MSCIA (Public Law
106-159) and both the prior and the current administrations
have indicated that they expect states to impose strong
enforcement measures against violators. DMV sponsored this
bill in order to provide for those measures.
2. Opposition removed . The Teamsters, the Amalgamated
Transit Union, and the United Transportation Union, which
represent many commercial drivers, opposed a previous
version of this bill. The April 14 amendments, taken in the
Assembly Transportation Committee, deleted the provision of
the bill to which these unions objected. The bill now has
no opposition registered.
3. Chaptering amendments . This bill has chaptering
conflicts with AB 2499 (Portantino). In order to resolve
these conflicts, the author will need to make chaptering
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amendments either in committee or at a later date.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 74 - 0
Appr: 15 - 0
Trans: 13 - 0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 23, 2010)
SUPPORT: Department of Motor Vehicles (sponsor)
OPPOSED: None received.