BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2337 (Linder) - Hit-and-run accidents: driver's license
suspensions.
Amended: As Introduced Policy Vote: T&H 11-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2337 would extend the driver's license
revocation period from one year to two years for persons
convicted of failing to stop at the scene of an accident
resulting in a death, or permanent, serious injury.
Fiscal Impact: One-time Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
implementation costs of approximately $426,000 for significant
programming changes that allow for the reporting of new
convictions from the courts, retaining convictions on driver
records, revising license suspension and reinstatement periods,
producing mailed notices, and making other changes related to
commercial drivers. (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. Existing law also requires the
driver to render reasonable assistance to any injured persons.
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 imprisonment in the state
prison or county jail for up to one year, and/or a fine of up to
$10,000. If the accident results in death or serious injury,
the offense 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.
AB 2337 (Linder)
Page 1
Proposed Law: AB 2337 would require DMV to immediately revoke a
person's driving privileges for a period of two years upon
receipt of a certified abstract from the court indicating a
conviction for a driver's failure to immediately stop at the
scene of an accident resulting in death or serious, permanent
injury.
Related Legislation: AB 1532 (Gatto), which is pending in this
Committee, 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.
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 would
enhance the penalties for convictions related to hit-and-run
accidents that involve death, or permanent, serious injury,
which is intended to help reduce the number of hit-and-run
accidents. The author contends that increasing the driver's
license suspension period would influence the behavior of a
driver involved in a serious hit-and-run accident.
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 impact these other priority programming projects.
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
associated with the bill would be minor.
AB 2337 (Linder)
Page 2