BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 335
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 13, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 335 (Brown) - As Amended: January 6, 2014
SUBJECT : Vehicles: impoundment
SUMMARY : Reduces the required impoundment period from 30 to 15
days if a vehicle is removed or seized by a peace officer under
specific circumstances. Specifically, this bill :
1)Reduces the required impoundment period from 30 to 15 days for
a vehicle if its determined by a peace officer that a person
was operating a vehicle under any of the following
circumstances:
a) Driving with a suspended or revoked (S/R) driver's
license;
b) Driving a vehicle without a mandatory installed ignition
interlock device, as required; or,
c) Operating a vehicle without a driver's license.
2)Makes related, conforming amendments.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes a peace officer to impound a vehicle driven by
person with a suspended or revoked driver's license, a person
operating a vehicle without an ignition interlock device as
required, or a vehicle operated by an unlicensed driver.
2)Requires a vehicle that is impounded under any of the
abovementioned circumstances to be impounded for 30 days.
3)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to require an
applicant for an original driver's license or identification
card to submit satisfactory proof that the applicant's
presence is authorized under federal law.
4)Prohibits DMV from issuing an original driver's license or
identification card of a person who does not submit
AB 335
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satisfactory proof that the applicant's presence in the U.S.
is authorized under federal law.
5)Commencing no later than January 1, 2015, requires DMV to
issue driver's licenses with a recognizable feature and a
specified notice to applicants who cannot provide satisfactory
proof of legal presence under federal law.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : According to the author, vehicle impounds have a
disproportionate impact on low-income drivers because the cost
of the impound fees are often times greater than the vehicle's
value. The author cites, for example, fees in the City of San
Bernardino that include a $225 impound fee and a $50 daily
storage fee, totaling $1,725 at the end of a 30-day impound
period. Because of these high fees, the author is concerned
that low-income families choose to abandon their impounded
vehicles rather than pay impound fees.
The author argues that these high fees ultimately hurt working
families in need of reliable transportation. By reducing by
half the number of days of mandatory impoundment-thereby
reducing fees substantially--low-income families will have
greater ability to pay the fees and retrieve their vehicle.
Committee concerns: The committee is concerned that this bill
could potentially have an adverse impact on traffic safety
throughout the state. Furthermore, recent legislation will
eventually alleviate much of the need for the relief the author
is seeking.
While vehicle impoundments undoubtedly impact low-income
families particularly painfully, data indicate impoundments are
an effective public safety tool. For example, studies by both
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and
DMV have found that drivers with suspended or revoked licenses
pose an elevated risk to all other road users. Both NHTSA and
DMV have found that these drivers are greater than three times
more likely to cause a fatal crash than the average licensed
driver. Furthermore, in a study evaluating California's 30-day
impoundment requirement, NHTSA found that when drivers had their
vehicles impounded, "their subsequent traffic violations and
crashes were reduced substantially." In fact, DMV reported up to
a 38% reduction in subsequent crashes and up to a 23% in fewer
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subsequent convictions when a driver's vehicle was impounded.
Further, implementation of AB 60 (Alejo, Chapter 524, Statutes
of 2013) will require DMV, no later than January 1, 2015, to
start issuing driver's licenses to persons that can provide
sufficient documentation to prove identity and residency within
the state regardless their legal status with the federal
government. Thus, at the same time as this bill would take
effect, the ability to legally obtain a driver's license will be
available for a significant portion of currently unlicensed
drivers; which in many cases may be a low-income undocumented
person. Consequently, the primary beneficiaries of this bill
would be drivers (and their families) that, in most cases, have
multiple, serious driving offenses or are willfully ignoring the
law with regard to obtaining a driver's license.
Previous legislation : AB 1993 (Ma) would have prohibited a
peace officer from impounding a vehicle driven by a person who
does not have a valid driver's license but whose license is not
suspended or revoked. The bill failed passage in the Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee.
AB 353 (Cedillo) Chapter 653, Statutes of 2011, prohibits the
impoundment of a vehicle stopped at a sobriety checkpoint if the
driver's sole offense is the failure to be properly licensed.
SB 591 (Cedillo) of 2005, would have exempted from 30-day
impoundment, the vehicle of a person who did not have a license
because he or she could not meet the requirement that his or her
presence in the U.S. was authorized by law. That bill died in
the Senate policy committee.
SB 675 (Cedillo) of 2005, would have declared the intent of the
Legislature that law enforcement provides safe transportation
for persons whose vehicles are seized in specified situations.
The bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger who cited that
the provisions of that bill intended to restrict law enforcement
by mandating that transportation be provided in a specified
manner.
SB 1758 (Kopp, Chapter 1221, Statutes of 1994) authorized police
officers to impound and hold vehicles for 30 days when the
vehicle that is stopped is being driven by a person with a
suspended or revoked license, a person operating a vehicle
without a mandatory installed ignition interlock device as
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required, or operating a vehicle without a driver's license.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Manny Leon / TRANS. / (916) 319- 2093