BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1175
Author: Walters (R)
Amended: 5/12/14
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 10-0, 5/6/14
AYES: DeSaulnier, Gaines, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso,
Lara, Liu, Roth, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/23/14
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
SUBJECT : Vehicle length exemption: motorsports
SOURCE : National Hot Rod Association
DIGEST : This bill extends from 2016, until 2018, the sunset
date on existing 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
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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, existing 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
existing 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, existing law allowed over-length semitrailers (those
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 (CHP), as to whether legislation should
reauthorize the 56-foot trailer length. Caltrans issued this
report on March 27 of this year.
This bill:
1.Extends the sunset date until January 1, 2018, and deletes
obsolete reporting requirements.
2.Requires Caltrans to conduct field tests of the truck tractor
semitrailer combination for motorsport trucks with a trailer
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length of 56 feet to evaluate their performance on all
segments of the National Network and transition routes
connecting to sanctioned motorsport racecourses, except for
the Pomona Raceway and the Sonoma Raceway.
3.Requires Caltrans, on or before January 1, 2018, to make the
needed roadway improvements identified in the field tests and
for the Pomona Raceway and the Sonoma Raceway, to accommodate
the truck tractor semitrailer combination of 56 feet.
4.States legislative findings and declarations that Caltrans
established the existing transition routes, based on records
from the 1990s.
5.Requires Caltrans to update the transition routes to reflect
road projects completed since the 1990s and update the
transition routes every five years thereafter.
6.Requires Caltrans to develop new transition routes for the
truck tractor semitrailer combination for motorsport trucks
with a trailer length of 56 feet.
7.Requires Caltrans, no later than January 1, 2017, to submit a
report to the Legislature that includes the results of the
field tests, an overview of the related roadway improvements
identified and made, and, in consultation with the CHP, a
recommendation as to whether the 56-foot trailer length should
be reauthorized.
Background
The Caltrans report . Caltrans issued the report required
pursuant to SB 1174 on March 27 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
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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 five years.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Caltrans costs of approximately $2.8 million to make
identified roadway improvements on transition routes at the
Pomona and Sonoma Raceways. (State Highway Account)
One-time Caltrans costs of approximately $300,000 over two
years to conduct field tests on the remaining 14 transition
routes to sanctioned race tracks. (State Highway Account)
One-time Caltrans costs of up to $150,000 in 2016-17 to
prepare a report to the Legislature that includes results of
field tests on the remaining transition routes and an overview
of necessary improvements identified and made. (State Highway
Account)
Caltrans costs of approximately $300,000 in 2015-16 to update
transition routes to reflect projects completed since the
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original routes were identified, and to develop new transition
routes that could accommodate the vehicle-trailer combinations
specified in this bill. These costs will be repeated every
five years if the statute is re-authorized beyond the
specified 2018 sunset date. (State Highway Account)
Unknown future cost pressures, likely in the millions, to make
road improvements identified in the field testing of the
remaining 14 transition routes. (State Highway Account)
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/23/14)
National Hot Rod Association (source)
Don Schumacher Racing
Professional Racers Owners Association
Sonoma Raceway
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Racing organizations like the National
Hot Rod Association 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. The author 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
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.
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JA:e 5/23/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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