BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2552
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2552 (Torres)
As Amended May 2, 2012
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 6-0
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Knight, Hall, | | |
| |Hagman, Mitchell, Skinner | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Recasts provisions of driving under the influence of
drugs. Specifically, this bill :
1)Revises and recasts provisions related to driving under the
influence of alcohol or drugs, or the combination of drugs and
alcohol by separating the provisions into three distinct
sections and subsections:
a) Driving under the influence of alcohol;
b) Driving under the influence of drugs; and,
c) Driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
2)Requires health practitioners to make a written report to law
enforcement when the health practitioner knows or reasonably
suspects the person is suffering from any wound or other
physical injury inflicted by his or her own act or inflicted
by another where the injury is the result of a vehicle
accident involving the suspected use of alcohol or drugs.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires health practitioners to report the following injuries
to law enforcement:
a) Any person suffering from any wound or other physical
injury inflicted by his or her own act or inflicted by
another where the injury is by means of a firearm; and,
b) Any person suffering from any wound or other physical
injury inflicted upon the person where the injury is the
result of assaultive or abusive conduct.
AB 2552
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2)States that it is unlawful for any person who is under the
influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug, or under the
combined influence of any alcoholic beverage and drug, to
drive a vehicle.
3)States that it is unlawful for any person who has 0.08% or
more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a
vehicle. For purposes of this article and Vehicle Code
Section 34501.16, percent, by weight, of alcohol in a person's
blood is based upon grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of
blood or grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath. In any
prosecution under this subdivision, it is a rebuttable
presumption that the person had 0.08% or more, by weight, of
alcohol in his or her blood at the time of driving the vehicle
if the person had 0.08% or more, by weight, of alcohol in his
or her blood at the time of the performance of a chemical test
within three hours after the driving.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Driving under the influence
of alcohol and drugs is a growing public safety problem in
California. Federal and state agencies report an increase in
the number of car accidents in which alcohol and drugs were
detected.
"According to the National Highway Traffic Administration's
(NHTSA) 'National Roadside Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use by
Drivers' based on random road checks, found that 16.3% of all
drivers nationwide at night were on various legal and illegal
impairing drugs.
"Based on data from NHTSA, 30 percent of all drivers who were
killed in motor vehicle crashes in California in 2010 tested
positive for legal and/or illegal drugs. The percentage of
these cases has been increasing since 2006.
"The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) reported that
drug use in California fatal crashes is rising. According to
OTS, in 2009, 1,458 California drivers were killed in crashes,
of which 1,173 were tested for drugs after death. The federal
government reports that 339 tested positive for 'drug
involvement', or 23 percent of all drivers.
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"Drug-impaired driving is often under-reported and
under-recognized and toxicology testing is expensive.
Additionally, because there is no established impairment level
for drugs, prosecuting drug impaired driving cases can be
difficult.
"Under current law, all individuals arrested for driving under
the influence are arrested under a single, catch-all section of
the law. Current law does not distinguish between individuals
arrested for being under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a
combination of both.
"This process of arresting individuals for DUI leaves state and
local entities with little information to study and understand
trends on the different types of substances involved in DUI
incidents.
"AB 2552 will break up the code section of the law used by law
enforcement to charge individuals for DUI into three sections.
These new sections will allow state and local entities to
collect arrest data that is more precise and that can reflect
the actual numbers of alcohol, drug or a combination of alcohol
and drugs. This type of data is critical for health and safety
agencies to make better informed decisions regarding funding for
officer training, equipment, and/or drug and alcohol programs.
"This new way of arresting people is a top priority for law
enforcement and for state officials because it will help them
determine the prevalence of alcohol or other drugs in DUI
arrests and find better ways to control it."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0003625
AB 2552
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