BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 1229
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: denham
VERSION: 4/13/10
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: April 20, 2010
SUBJECT:
Implements of husbandry: all-terrain vehicles
DESCRIPTION:
This bill adds all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to the list of
vehicles that state law classifies as implements of husbandry
and which may therefore be driven incidentally on public roads.
ANALYSIS:
A person may not drive a motor vehicle on any street, road, or
highway open to the public (highway) unless the vehicle is
registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Existing
law prohibits the operator of an off-highway motor vehicle (OHV)
from driving the OHV upon any highway, except to cross a highway
or when a highway is closed due to snow. OHVs include several
types of vehicles not designed or intended for highway use,
including dune buggies, certain motor bikes, snowmobiles, and
ATVs.
Existing law defines an ATV as a vehicle that is used
exclusively off of the highway and that:
was designed to operate off-road;
is 50 inches or less in width;
has an unladen weight of 900 pounds or less;
is suspended on three or more low-pressure, rubber tires;
has one or two seats, including a seat designed for the
operator to straddle; and
has handlebars for steering.
Existing law exempts from registration with DMV an implement of
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husbandry that is only incidentally operated or moved over a
highway. State law further exempts implements of husbandry from
various equipment requirements, including requirements to have a
windshield, windshield wipers, and specified lighting. In
general, the operator of an implement of husbandry need not have
a driver's license.
Existing law defines an implement of husbandry as a vehicle used
exclusively in the conduct of agricultural operations that was
not designed primarily to transport persons or property upon a
highway. Existing law enumerates an illustrative list of
implements of husbandry that includes:
Any vehicle operated on a highway only for the purpose of
transporting agricultural products provided in no event it
is operated along a highway for a total distance greater
than one mile from the point of origin of the trip.
A wagon or portable house on wheels used solely by
shepherds as a permanent residence in connection with sheep
raising operations moved from one part of the ranch to
another or from ranch to ranch that is only incidentally
moved on a highway.
Any farm tractor, cotton module mover, automatic bale
wagon, or portable honey-extracting trailer.
This bill adds ATVs used in agricultural operations to the
illustrative list of implements of husbandry enumerated in
existing law.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author notes that farmers and ranchers often use
ATVs to manage day-to-day operations over many tracts of land
in a safe, effective manner. These vehicles are designed
specifically for off-road use and make the job much easier.
ATVs can easily travel where highway vehicles cannot due to
their size and off road capabilities, but public roads
sometimes separate agricultural tracts of land that are farmed
or ranched as part of a single operation. In the course of
farm and ranch operations it then becomes necessary to use
those roads to access the next property while riding an ATV.
The author introduced this bill to ensure that when farmers,
ranchers, and their employees use ATVs, state law does not
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deem them law breakers.
2.Citations issued . The California Highway Patrol (CHP) reports
issuing 108 citations in the past five years for operating an
OHV on the highway when not permitted. This number does not
include any tickets that local sheriff's deputies may have
issued. Also, CHP reports that its officers would not issue a
ticket to a farmer or rancher operating his or her
agricultural use ATV on the highway. It is unclear, therefore,
that farmers, ranchers, or their employees are being issued
tickets for riding ATVs on the highway to access their
agricultural operations. After all, one could assume that CHP
officers issued most of these 108 tickets to recreational OHV
riders who use the highway to access public and private lands,
including OHV parks, on their OHVs rather than loading them
into a trailer or a pickup truck to move them to those riding
venues. This bill makes clear that law enforcement may not
cite the operator of an ATV used in agricultural operations
for incidental use of the state's highways.
3.Arguments in opposition . The Teamsters oppose this bill,
because that union considers the operation of off-highway
vehicles on public highways a risk to public safety.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
April 14, 2010)
SUPPORT: California Farm Bureau
Western Growers
OPPOSED: Teamsters