BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 159
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: simitian
VERSION: 2/14/09
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: March 31, 2009
SUBJECT:
Emergency vehicles and tow trucks
DESCRIPTION:
This bill makes permanent the "move over" law, which prescribes
until 2010 actions that drivers must take on a freeway when
passing a stopped emergency vehicle or tow truck with its
warning lights flashing.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law requires the driver of a vehicle, upon the
immediate approach of an emergency vehicle that is sounding a
siren and has at least one lighted lamp exhibiting red light, as
specified, to yield the right-of-way and immediately drive to
the right-hand edge or curb of the highway that is clear of an
intersection, stop, and remain stopped until the authorized
emergency vehicle has passed, except as otherwise directed by a
traffic officer.
SB 1610 (Simitian), Chapter 375, Statutes of 2006, which
established the "move over" law, requires that until January 1,
2010 a person driving a vehicle on a freeway that is approaching
a stationary emergency vehicle displaying its emergency lights
or a stationary tow truck displaying its flashing amber warning
lights to approach with due caution and proceed to do one of the
following:
(a) Make a lane change into an available lane not immediately
adjacent to the authorized emergency vehicle or tow truck with
due regard for safety and traffic conditions, if practicable
SB 159 (SIMITIAN) Page 2
and not prohibited by law; or
(b) If the maneuver described in (a) would be unsafe or
impracticable, slow to a reasonable and prudent speed that is
safe for existing weather, road, and vehicular or pedestrian
traffic conditions.
Violation of this provision is punishable by a fine of not more
than $50.
SB 1610 also provides that until January 1, 2010, a tow truck
shall not display flashing amber warning lamps on a freeway
except when "an unusual traffic hazard or extreme hazard
exists."
SB 1610 required the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to report
to the Legislature by January 1, 2009 on the law's effect on the
safety of emergency responders and on the motoring public.
This bill repeals the January 1, 2010 sunset date on these
provisions of law thereby making permanent the requirement that
drivers move over or slow down when passing a stopped emergency
vehicle displaying its emergency lights or tow truck that is
displaying its warning lights because of an unusual traffic
hazard or an extreme hazard.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . Senator Simitian introduced this bill to make
permanent the move over law that his SB 1610 created as a
three-year, statewide pilot project. SB 1610 arose from
Senator Simitian's 2005 "There Ought To Be A Law" contest.
Daniel Leon, a tow truck driver from Hayward, submitted the
bill idea based on his experiences on California freeways and
his knowledge that other states had move over laws.
2.Other states . According to the National Conference of State
Legislatures, 43 states have some sort of move over law.
Twenty-nine of the 43 states apply their move over laws to
emergency vehicles only. The remaining 14, including
California, apply their laws to both emergency vehicles and
tow trucks. The number of states with move over laws has grown
significantly in recent years as traffic safety officials have
pursued a national campaign to pass move over laws and to
educate the public about the laws.
SB 159 (SIMITIAN) Page 3
3.CHP Report . Earlier this year, the CHP issued its report
required under SB 1610, and concluded that "there is no
absolute measurement to determine what impact SB 1610 has had
on increasing the safety of emergency personnel and/or the
motoring public. However, despite the one-year data
comparison, the new laws appear to have had a positive effect
by reducing collisions and injuries involving stopped
emergency vehicles and tow trucks."
CHP drew this conclusion by comparing accident data for 2006,
before SB 1610 took effect, and for 2007, the first year it
was in effect. CHP's accident data, however, does not always
differentiate between freeways and highways, nor does it
record whether a vehicle's emergency lights were displayed.
Finally, SB 1610 also enacted a provision, which will not
sunset, that made it illegal to operate a vehicle in an unsafe
manner within an emergency incident zone, which state law
defines as an area within 500 feet and in the same direction
of travel as a stopped emergency vehicle that has its
emergency lights activated. CHP is unable to separate the
effect of this law from the move over law in determining the
decrease in accidents.
CHP reports issuing 106 citations over two years for
violations of the move over law. This is a very low number,
given that casual observation suggests the law is not widely
observed. CHP notes in its report in explanation of this low
number that officers on the scene of an incident are busy with
that incident and therefore not able to leave the scene to
issue citations. CHP further indicates in its report that it
is planning a driver education campaign about the move over
law, including working with the Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) to include information about the law in the DMV
handbook.
4.Display of warning lights . Both SB 1610 required that tow
trucks display their amber lights on a freeway only when "an
unusual traffic hazard or extreme hazard exists." This bill
makes that requirement permanent. On other roads, where the
move over law does not apply, tow trucks may display their
lights while providing service to a disabled vehicle.
5.Author's amendments . The author will offer amendments in
committee to add Senator Ashburn as the joint author.
RELATED LEGISLATION
SB 159 (SIMITIAN) Page 4
SB 240 (Wright) also makes permanent the "move over" law, but
adds Caltrans' vehicles, under specified conditions, to the law.
Status: Set for hearing in this committee on April 14, 2009.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
March 25, 2009)
SUPPORT: AAA of Northern California
Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety
Allied Driving School
Association of California Insurance Companies
Automobile Club of Southern California
California Professional Firefighters
California Tow Truck Association
Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety
Hammer Towing, Inc.
Sheriff of San Mateo County
Sheriff of Santa Cruz County
OPPOSED: None received.