BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2151
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 21, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON INSURANCE
Jose Solorio, Chair
AB 2151 (Torres) - As Amended: March 24, 2010
SUBJECT : Automobile insurance: public safety officers
SUMMARY : Provides an exemption from the duty to report
automobile accidents to a private insurer if the accident occurs
while a public safety officer is driving his or her personal
vehicle at the request or direction of the employer, in the
course of the officer's duties. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that a peace officer, a member of the California
Highway Patrol (CHP), or a firefighter does not have to report
an accident to his or her private insurer that occurs in his
or her personal vehicle if the personal vehicle is being
driven at the request or direction of the officer's employer
in the course of the officer's duties.
2)Provides that these officers shall be indemnified pursuant to
specified provisions of the Government Code for any losses
resulting from an accident described above.
3)Provides that the obligation to report evidence of insurance
to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) after an accident is
satisfied by an officer described above for an accident
subject to the bill by filing a report indicating that the
vehicle is owned by the officer and being driven at the
request or direction of the officer's employer in the course
of employment.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that a peace officer, a member of the CHP, or a
firefighter does not have to report an accident to his or her
private insurer if the accident occurs during the course of
employment, and while the officer is driving a vehicle leased
or owned by the employer.
2)Provides that a public entity is generally responsible to
indemnify a public employee for losses that occur during the
course of employment, and establishes the procedures for both
the employee and employer to follow in order to preserve their
AB 2151
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respective rights.
3)Requires drivers to report evidence of financial
responsibility to the DMV after being in an automobile
accident.
FISCAL EFFECT : Undetermined.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose . According to the author, and the sponsor, California
Professional Firefighters, local agencies are increasingly
asking safety officers, especially firefighters, to drive in
their personal vehicles between work-related locations where
their services are required. This places the officers'
personal driving records at risk, and adversely impacts their
premium expenses for their personal automobile insurance
policy. They argue that these costs should be part of the
employment costs covered by the public agency, and this bill
remedies the problem.
2)Department of Insurance regulations . According to regulations
adopted by the Insurance Commissioner that govern when an
insurer may determine that a driver was principally at fault
in an accident, the insurer is prohibited from doing so if
"The driver was responding to a call of duty as a paid or
volunteer member of any police or fire department, first aid
squad, or of any law enforcement agency, while performing any
other governmental function in a public emergency." While
this provision provides some protection to an officer, it does
not fully address the issue that the employing agency should
be responsible for incidents that occur during the course of
employment that do not rise to the level of a public
emergency.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Professional Firefighters
Opposition
None received.
AB 2151
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Analysis Prepared by : Mark Rakich / INS. / (916) 319-2086