BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1532 (Gatto) - Vehicles: hit-and-run accidents.
Amended: June 26, 2014 Policy Vote: T&H 11-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1532 would prohibit the driver of a vehicle
involved in an accident in which a person was struck from
leaving the scene without providing specified contact and
vehicle information. A conviction of this violation is
punishable as either an infraction or misdemeanor, as specified,
and a mandatory six-month driver's license suspension.
Fiscal Impact:
One-time Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) implementation
costs of approximately $480,000, primarily for significant
programming changes that allow for reporting of convictions
by the courts, retaining convictions on driver records,
adding a violation point, providing for license suspension
and reinstatement, producing mailed notices, and making
other changes related to commercial drivers. (Motor Vehicle
Account)
Ongoing DMV workload costs and revenues from license
reinstatement fees are expected to be minor. (Motor Vehicle
Account)
Background: Existing law requires a driver involved in an
accident resulting in property damage, or the death or injury of
another person, to immediately stop and provide certain
information to affected parties. Conviction of a hit-and-run
resulting in property damage is punishable by up to six months
in county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000. The court may
also suspend driving privileges for up to six months.
Conviction of a hit-and-run resulting in injury or death is
punishable by 16 months, two, or three years in state prison, or
up to one year in county jail and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
If the accident results in death or serious injury, the offense
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is punishable by two, three, or four years in state prison, or
up to one year in county jail, and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
Upon conviction of a hit-and-run accident causing injury or
death, DMV is required to immediately revoke a driver's license
for one year.
Proposed Law: AB 1532 would require the driver of a vehicle
involved in an accident where a person is struck to immediately
stop at the scene of the accident and exchange specified
information with affected parties. Upon conviction, a person
failing to comply would be guilty of either an infraction
punishable by a fine of up to $250, or a misdemeanor punishable
by a fine of up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment in the county jail
for up to six months. In addition to these punishments, the
bill would require DMV to immediately suspend the person's
driver's license for six months.
Related Legislation: AB 2337 (Linder), which is pending in this
Committee, would extend the driver's license suspension period
from one year to two years for the conviction of a driver
involved in a hit-and-run accident resulting in a person's death
or permanent, serious injury.
Staff Comments: As noted above, current law prohibits a driver
from leaving the scene of an accident without stopping and
exchanging information with affected parties, if the accident
results in property damage, injury, or death. This bill is
intended to impose mandatory suspension of a driver's license
for six months, upon conviction, in any hit-and-run accident in
which a person is struck by a vehicle, regardless of whether the
incident resulted in injuries or property damage. A violation
could be charged as either an infraction or misdemeanor, but the
suspension of the driver's license would be mandatory, upon
conviction.
DMV would incur significant programming costs to implement the
bill, and would be unable to complete programming by the January
1, 2015 operative date. Staff notes that DMV is currently
engaged in a number of high priority programming projects, such
as those related to federally mandated improvements to the
Commercial Driver's License system, IT modernization efforts,
and implementation of AB 60 (Alejo), Chap. 524/2013. This bill
is likely to have an impact on other programming projects.
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DMV receives less than 1,000 hit-and-run convictions annually
under current law. Drivers must pay a fee of $55 to reinstate a
suspended license. DMV estimates that ongoing workload to
process suspensions and reinstatements, and revenues associated
with reinstatement fees, would be minor.