BILL NUMBER: SB 1174	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 12, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Walters
   (Coauthor: Senator La Malfa)

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2012

   An act to amend Section 35401.5 of the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1174, as amended, Walters. Vehicles: length 
semitrailers   limitations  :  exemption:
 motorsports.
   Existing law  generally prohibits a vehicle from exceeding a
length of 40 feet, and a combination of vehicles from exceeding a
total length of 65 feet, with various specific exceptions. Existing
law  authorizes the Department of Transportation or local
authorities, with regard to highways under their respective
jurisdiction, to issue a special permit authorizing the operation of
a combination of vehicles consisting of a truck tractor semitrailer
combination with a maximum length from kingpin to rearmost axle
measurement of not more than 46 feet, if the trailers are used
exclusively or primarily in connection with motorsports, as defined.
   This bill would instead exempt a combination of vehicles
consisting of a truck tractor and semitrailer, or of a truck tractor,
semitrailer, and trailer, from  all   specified
length  limitations  on the length of trailers
 if the  distance from the kingpin to the rearmost axle
of the semitrailer or trailer does not exceed 46 feet, the overall
length of the semitrailer or trailer is 56 feet or less, and the
semitrailer or  trailer is used exclusively or primarily in
connection with motorsports, as defined.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 35401.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:

   35401.5.  (a) A combination of vehicles consisting of a truck
tractor and semitrailer, or of a truck tractor, semitrailer, and
trailer, is not subject to the limitations of Sections 35400 and
35401, when operating on the  Dwight D. Eisenhower  National
System of Interstate and Defense Highways or when using those
portions of federal-aid primary system highways that have been
qualified by the United States Secretary of Transportation for that
use, or when using routes appropriately identified by the Department
of Transportation or local authorities as provided in subdivision (c)
or (d), if all of the following conditions are met:
   (1) The length of the semitrailer in exclusive combination with a
truck tractor does not exceed 48 feet. A semitrailer not more than 53
feet in length shall satisfy this requirement when configured with
two or more rear axles, the rearmost of which is located 40 feet or
less from the kingpin or when configured with a single axle which is
located 38 feet or less from the kingpin. For purposes of this
paragraph, a motortruck used in combination with a semitrailer, when
that combination of vehicles is engaged solely in the transportation
of motor vehicles, camper units, or boats, is considered to be a
truck tractor.
   (2) Neither the length of the semitrailer nor the length of the
trailer when simultaneously in combination with a truck tractor
exceeds 28 feet 6 inches.
   (b) Subdivisions (b), (d), and (e) of Section 35402 do not apply
to combinations of vehicles operated subject to the exemptions
provided by this section.
   (c) Combinations of vehicles operated pursuant to subdivision (a)
may also use highways not specified in subdivision (a) that provide
reasonable access to terminals and facilities for purposes limited to
fuel, food, lodging, and repair when that access is consistent with
the safe operation of the combinations of vehicles and when the
facility is within one road mile of identified points of ingress and
egress to or from highways specified in subdivision (a) for use by
those combinations of vehicles.
   (d) The Department of Transportation or local authorities may
establish a process whereby access to terminals or services may be
applied for upon a route not previously established as an access
route. The denial of a request for access to terminals and services
shall be only on the basis of safety and an engineering analysis of
the proposed access route. If a written request for access has been
properly submitted and has not been acted upon within 90 days of
receipt by the department or the appropriate local agency, the access
shall be deemed automatically approved. Thereafter, the route shall
be deemed open for access by all other vehicles of the same type
regardless of ownership. In lieu of processing an access application,
the Department of Transportation or local authorities with respect
to highways under their respective jurisdictions may provide signing,
mapping, or a listing of highways as necessary to indicate the use
of specific routes as terminal access routes. For purposes of this
subdivision, "terminal" means either of the following:
   (1) A facility where freight originates, terminates, or is handled
in the transportation process.
   (2) A facility where a motor carrier maintains operating
facilities.
   (e) Nothing in subdivision (c) or (d) authorizes state or local
agencies to require permits of terminal operators or to charge
terminal operators fees for the purpose of attaining access for
vehicles described in this section.
   (f) Notwithstanding subdivision (d), the limitations of access
specified in that subdivision do not apply to licensed carriers of
household goods when directly enroute to or from a point of loading
or unloading of household goods, if travel on highways other than
those specified in subdivision (a) is necessary and incidental to the
shipment of the household goods.
   (g)  Notwithstanding Sections 35400 and 35401, a 
 A    combination of vehicles consisting of a
truck tractor and semitrailer, or of a truck tractor, semitrailer,
and trailer, is  exempt from all limitations on the length of
trailers   not subject to the limitations under 
   Sections 35400 and 35401,  if the  distance
from the kingpin to the rearmost axle of the semitrailer or trailer
does not exceed 46 feet, the overall length of the semitrailer or
 trailer is  56 feet or less, and the semitrailer or trailer
is used  exclusively or primarily  used  in
connection with motorsports. As used in this subdivision,
"motorsports" means an event, and all activities leading up to that
event, including, but not limited to, administration, testing,
practice, promotion, and merchandising, that is sanctioned under the
auspices of the member organizations of the Automobile Competition
Committee for the United States.
   (h) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
   (1) In authorizing the use of 53-foot semitrailers, it is the
intent of the Legislature to conform with Section  3111(b)(1)
(C)   31111(b)(1)(C)  of Title 49 of the United
States Code by permitting the continued use of semitrailers of the
dimensions as those that were in actual and legal use on December 1,
1982, and does not intend this action to be a precedent for future
increases in the parameters of any of those vehicles that would
adversely affect the turning maneuverability of vehicle combinations.

   (2)  In exempting  semitrailers and  trailers used
exclusively or primarily for motorsports from limitations on the
length of  semitrailers and  trailers,it is the intent of
the Legislature to conform with Section 31111(b)(1)(F) of Title 49 of
the United States Code. It is also the intent of the Legislature
that this action not be a precedent forfuture increases in the
distance from the kingpin to the rearmost axle of semitrailers 
and trailers  that would adversely affect the turning
maneuverability of vehicle combinations.