BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 2398
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: levine
VERSION: 5/23/14
Analysis by: Erin Riches FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 17, 2014
SUBJECT:
Vehicles: pedestrians and bicyclists
DESCRIPTION:
This bill establishes penalties for a driver causing bodily
injury or great bodily injury to a "vulnerable road user."
ANALYSIS:
Existing law provides that a driver who proximately causes
bodily injury or great bodily injury to another person by
violating any statutory rule of the road that is punishable as
an infraction, is guilty of unsafe operation of a motor vehicle
with bodily injury or great bodily injury. Existing law defines
"great bodily injury" as a significant or substantial injury.
Existing law provides that this offense is punishable as an
infraction. Conviction for unsafe operation of a motor vehicle
with bodily injury is punishable by a fine of $70; conviction
for unsafe operation of a motor vehicle with great bodily injury
is punishable by a fine of $95.
Existing law requires a driver to pass a bicycle with a distance
of at least three feet between the vehicle and the bicycle. If
a driver is unable to provide three feet of passing distance, he
or she must slow to a reasonable and prudent speed and pass only
when doing so will not endanger the bicyclist's safety. A
violation of this law constitutes an infraction punishable by a
$35 base fine, while a violation of this law resulting in a
collision is punishable by a $220 base fine. Due to additional
surcharges, penalties, and assessments, a $35 base fine is
equivalent to a total of $289 and a $220 base fine is equivalent
to a total of $1,033.
This bill :
AB 2398 (LEVINE) Page 2
Provides that a driver who proximately causes bodily injury or
great bodily injury to a vulnerable road user is guilty of
unsafe operation of a motor vehicle with bodily injury or
great bodily injury, punishable as an infraction.
Provides that such a violation is punishable by a base fine of
between $220 and $1,000, for a total fine of between $1,033
and $4,231.
Provides that a conviction for such a violation shall be given
a value of one violation point.
Defines "vulnerable road user" as a pedestrian, including a
highway construction or maintenance worker; an individual on
horseback; an individual operating equipment other than a
motor vehicle, including, but not limited to, a bicycle,
in-line skates, roller skates, a scooter, or a skateboard; or
an individual operating or using a farm tractor.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author states that pedestrians and bicyclists
are at greater risk than vehicle occupants and usually bear
the greatest burden of injury on the road. The California
Office of Traffic Safety finds that although motorist
fatalities are decreasing, pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities
are increasing. The sponsor of this bill, the California
Bicycle Coalition, states that motorists should exercise extra
caution in the presence of people walking and biking "without
the protection of the big metal box of a car." This bill
helps encourage such caution by establishing strict penalties
to serve as a deterrent to drivers who fail to respect others'
use of the road.
2.Triple threat . This bill would more than triple existing base
fines for unsafe operation of a motor vehicle with bodily
injury or great bodily injury if a vulnerable road user is
involved, for a potential total penalty of more than $4,000.
The committee may wish to consider lowering the maximum base
fine in this bill to an amount lower than $1,000.
3.One of these things is not like the other . This bill includes
an individual operating or using a farm tractor in its
definition of "vulnerable road user." While a tractor may
seem like an outlier in a group of pedestrians and bicyclists,
the model vulnerable road user legislation proposed by the
AB 2398 (LEVINE) Page 3
League of American Bicyclists includes "a farm tractor or
similar vehicle designed primarily for farm use," and the
Oregon vulnerable road user statute includes "a farm tractor
or implement of husbandry." (Five states - Delaware, Hawaii,
Oregon, Vermont, and Washington - have passed vulnerable road
user laws.)
The model legislation also encompasses several categories that
are not specifically listed in this bill, including an
individual on an electric personal assistive mobility device
(e.g., a Segway) and an individual in a wheelchair. The
committee may wish to amend these two categories into this
bill.
4.Violation points . This bill provides that a driver convicted
of unsafe operation of a motor vehicle with bodily injury or
great bodily injury shall receive one violation point. DMV
assigns violation points against an individual's driver's
license for certain traffic offenses to identify a driver as a
negligent operator. Violation points vary with the gravity of
the offense; for example, a "fix-it" ticket does not count for
any violation points, a speeding ticket counts for one
violation point, and driving while under the influence of
alcohol or drugs counts for two violation points. DMV may
suspend an individual's driver's license for six months if he
or she receives four points in one year, six points in two
years, or eight points in three years. An individual may
request a DMV hearing to avoid a license suspension.
5.Opposition arguments . Writing in opposition, the National
Motorists Association states that penalties for causing injury
should be based on the degree of injury rather than on whether
the parties to the accident were driving a vehicle, pedaling a
bike, or walking. Also writing in opposition, Safer Streets
L.A. states that vulnerable road user laws do not necessarily
result in increased safety. Safer Streets L.A. notes that THE
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics
indicate that in 2011, Oregon, Hawaii, and Delaware - all
states with vulnerable road user laws - ranked higher than
California in their rates of pedestrian fatalities, and Oregon
ranked higher than California in bicyclist fatalities. Both
organizations recommend that instead of enhanced penalties,
the author should consider directing resources toward public
education campaigns and engineering safety countermeasures.
6.Double-referral . The Rules Committee has referred this bill
AB 2398 (LEVINE) Page 4
to both this committee and the Public Safety Committee.
Therefore, if this bill passes this committee, it will be
referred to the Public Safety Committee. Because of the
double-referral, any amendments the author agrees to in this
committee should be taken in the Public Safety Committee.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 72-2
Appr: 16-0
Trans: 13-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 11,
2014.)
SUPPORT: Bikeable Communities
California Bicycle Coalition (sponsor)
California Electric Bicycle Association
California Walks
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
Marin County Bicycle Coalition
Safe Routes to School National Partnership
San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee
Santa Ana City Councilwoman Michele Martinez
Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition
Transportation Authority of Marin
OPPOSED: National Motorists Association
Safer Streets L.A.