BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: sb 1175
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: walters
VERSION: 4/29/14
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: no
Hearing date: May 6, 2014
SUBJECT:
Vehicle length exemption: motorsports
DESCRIPTION:
This bill extends from 2016 until 2018 the sunset date on law
that allows extra-long semitrailers of up to 56 feet on
California roads if they are used primarily in connection with
motorsports.
ANALYSIS:
Most large vehicles on the highway are truck tractor-trailer
combinations. Typically, a truck tractor pulls a semitrailer.
A semitrailer is a trailer that is constructed so that some part
of its weight and load rests upon or is carried by another
vehicle, usually a truck tractor. A kingpin is the main pin
used to connect a semitrailer to a truck tractor. The distance
from the kingpin to the rear axle, referred to as KP-RA length,
determines the turning radius of the truck-semitrailer
combination.
An increase in the KP-RA distance results in the
truck-semitrailer combination using more space to complete a
turn. Thus, a semitrailer with a longer KP-RA distance is more
likely to go into an adjacent lane when rounding a curve on a
road. To account for this, state law limits KP-RA length to 40
feet when the semitrailer has two rear axles, and provided the
truck tractor is pulling only the semitrailer. Further state
law limits the semitrailer's total length to 53 feet.
Existing law defines motorsports to mean an event, and all
activities leading up to that event, that an organization of the
Automobile Competition Committee for the United States has
sanctioned.
Until 2013, state law allowed over-length semitrailers (those
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with a 46-foot KP-RA distance but an overall length of no more
than 53 feet) used in motorsports to travel on specified roads
within California if the Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) or a local road authority issued the vehicle a
special trip permit. SB 1174 (Walters), Chapter 292, Statutes
of 2012, deleted the authority of Caltrans or a local government
to issue those permits. Instead, SB 1174 explicitly allows, on
specified federal and state routes and until January 1, 2016,
semitrailers of up to 56 feet in length, if the distance from
the KP-RA is not more than 46 feet and the semitrailer is used
primarily in connection with motorsports.
SB 1174 further required Caltrans to conduct field tests of
these motorsport truck tractor-semitrailer combinations, and
then by January 1, 2014, report to the Legislature on the tests
and make recommendations, in consultation with the California
Highway Patrol, as to whether legislation should reauthorize the
56-foot trailer length. Caltrans issued this report on March
27th.
This bill extends the sunset date until January 1, 2018, and
deletes the now-obsolete requirement for Caltrans to complete
the study.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . Racing organizations like the National Hot Rod
Association (NHRA) sponsor multiple premier drag racing events
throughout California every year. The proponents state that
the benefits of these events include tourism, thousands of
jobs in the racing and manufacturing industries, and millions
of dollars spent in the state's economy.
The author notes that for years these nationwide organizations
have used 56-foot racing trailers to transport their cars and
equipment around the country. These trailers best serve the
needs of racing teams and eliminate the need for them to add
more vehicles and pollution to the state's highways and roads.
The author asserts that every other state that hosts racing
events provides these motorsports trailers an exemption, a
permitting process, or a withholding of enforcement so they
can operate within the state's jurisdiction. She states that
failure to extend the sunset date on the motorsport exemption
could result in racing organizations and teams pulling out of
events in California to avoid the risk of these costly
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regulations. This would have a negative impact on the current
economic recovery and would also result in revenue reductions
to the General Fund. Allowing the continued operation of
these semitrailers through 2018 would keep California in line
with the rest of the country and encourage racing teams and
organizations to continue bringing their business to
California.
2.The Caltrans report . Caltrans issued the report required
pursuant to SB 1174 on March 27th of this year after it had
conducted field tests near two race tracks. The field tests
involved driving a truck-semitrailer combination in which the
semitrailer was 56 feet in length and the KP-RA distance was
46 feet on roads leading to the racetracks, referred to as
transition routes as they serve as the transition from the
interstate freeway to the racetrack. Not surprisingly, the
vehicles remained in their lanes on the straight sections of
roads, but sometimes traveled into other lanes on freeway
on/off ramps or when making turns. Because of the danger of a
vehicle crossing into an adjacent lane, Caltrans, after
consulting with CHP, recommends in the report that the
Legislature only reauthorize the length exemption for
motorsport truck-semitrailers, following completion of the
following tasks:
Field test all transition routes from freeways to race
tracks. Noting that California has 16 sanctioned race
tracks with authorized routes allowing access for
motorsport trucks from the interstate, Caltrans recommends
that sufficient time and resources be provided to test all
of these to ascertain if these longer trailers can travel
safely on the transition routes before authorizing these
vehicles on them.
Make the needed roadway improvements identified in the
field tests. Based on the field tests Caltrans has already
conducted, the needed improvements on transition routes
appear to be limited to restriping of roads to widen lanes
or combine double turn lanes into single, wider lanes to
accommodate the greater turning radii of the motorsport
vehicles.
Develop new transition routes. Caltrans notes that it
established the existing transition routes based on records
from the 1990s, and so Caltrans should update these to
reflect road projects since then and should do so every
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five years. Apparently, Caltrans has not updated these
routes due to a lack of resources.
The committee may wish to amend this bill to implement
Caltrans recommendations so that all routes are field tested,
improvements to those routes made, and the list of routes
updated prior to allowing motorsport tractor truck-semitrailer
combinations with a KP-RA distance of up to 46 feet and a
semitrailer length of up to 56 feet to travel on California's
roads beyond January 1, 2016.
1.Other vehicles . The report also notes that beyond
truck-semitrailer combinations, out-of-state recreational
vehicles (RVs) or motorhome conversions pulling semitrailers
of up to 56-foot lengths also used SB 1174's exemption to
travel legally in California. When considering SB 1174, the
Legislature did not contemplate that long RVs or motorhomes
would pull the longer trailers. Because state law imposes no
overall length limit on motorsport combination vehicles, SB
1174 had the effect of legalizing RV-semitrailer combinations
of any length. Rather than allow RV and motorhome
combinations of any length, the committee may wish to limit
the definition of "a combination of vehicles ? used
exclusively or primarily in connection with motorsports" to
truck tractors as the only permissible tow vehicle and
specifically exclude RVs and motorhomes.
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, April 30,
2014.)
SUPPORT: National Hot Rod Association (sponsor)
Don Schumacher Racing
Professional Racers Owners Association
Sonoma Raceway
OPPOSED: None received.