BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2398
Author: Levine (D)
Amended: 8/19/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 10-1, 6/17/14
AYES: DeSaulnier, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso, Lara, Liu,
Pavley, Roth, Wyland
NOES: Gaines
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-2, 5/28/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Vehicles: pedestrians and bicyclists
SOURCE : California Bicycle Coalition
DIGEST : This bill establishes, until January 1, 2020, a new
infraction for a driver who violates specified rules of the road
offenses and proximately causes bodily injury or great bodily
injury to a "vulnerable road user," as defined.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Provides that a driver, who proximately causes bodily injury
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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. Defines "great
bodily injury" as a significant or substantial injury.
2.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; and conviction for
unsafe operation of a motor vehicle with great bodily injury
is punishable by a fine of $95.
3.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/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:
1.Provides, until January 1, 2020, that a driver who violates
any statutory rule of the road that is an infraction, and
proximately causes bodily injury or great bodily injury to a
"vulnerable road user," is guilty of the public offense of
unsafe operation of a motor vehicle with bodily injury or
great bodily injury.
2.Specifies a violation is an infraction punishable by a fine of
not less than $220 and not more than $300.
3.Requires that a conviction be given a value of one violation
point.
4.Defines "vulnerable road user" as:
A pedestrian, including a highway construction or
maintenance worker.
A person on horseback.
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A person operating equipment other than a motor vehicle,
including a bicycle, in-line skates, roller skates, a
scooter, or a skateboard.
A person operating or using a farm tractor.
A person on an electronic personal assistive mobility
device, such as a Segway.
A person in a wheelchair.
Background
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. The Department
of Motor Vehicles (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/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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Minor one time implementation costs to DMV. (Motor Vehicle
Account)
Unknown penalty revenue gains. (General Fund, various special
funds, local funds)
SUPPORT : (Per Senate Transportation and Housing Committee
analysis of 6/17/14; unable to reverify at time writing)
California Bicycle Coalition (source)
California Electric Bicycle Association
California Walks
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
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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
OPPOSITION : (Per Senate Transportation and Housing Committee
analysis of 6/17/14; unable to reverify at time writing)
National Motorists Association
Safer Streets L.A.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : 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.
ARGUMENTS 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.
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.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-2, 5/28/14
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AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Roger Hern�ndez,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. P�rez, V.
Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada,
Atkins
NOES: Allen, Donnelly
NO VOTE RECORDED: Conway, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Harkey,
Melendez, Vacancy
JA:e 8/19/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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