BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                          AB 8|
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 8
          Author:   Gatto (D)
          Amended:  7/6/15 in Senate
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE:  11-0, 6/30/15
           AYES:  Beall, Cannella, Allen, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,  
            McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski

           SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE:  7-0, 7/14/15
           AYES:  Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  7-0, 8/17/15
           AYES:  Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  79-0, 6/2/15 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Emergency services:  hit-and-run incidents


          SOURCE:    Author


          DIGEST:  This bill establishes the "Yellow Alert" notification  
          system and authorizes the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to  
          activate the system for certain hit-and-run incidents.


          ANALYSIS: 

          Existing law:
          
          1)Authorizes use of the Emergency Alert System (EAS), a national  








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            public warning system that requires broadcasters and others to  
            promulgate important information for "AMBER Alerts," a program  
            designed to aid in the recovery of an abducted child or an  
            individual with a proven mental or physical disability when  
            all of the following conditions have been met:  


             a)   A law enforcement agency determines that the victim is  
               in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death; and



             b)   There is information available that, if disseminated to  
               the general public, could assist in the safe recovery of  
               the victim.



          1)Requires CHP, in consultation with others, to develop policies  
            and procedures to instruct agencies how to carry out an AMBER  
            Alert.



          2)Authorizes use of the EAS for "Blue Alerts," a quick-response  
            system designed to issue and coordinate alerts when a law  
            enforcement officer has been killed or is seriously injured  
            and when all the following conditions have been met: 



             a)   The suspect has fled the scene and poses an imminent  
               threat to public safety;



             b)   A detailed description of the suspect's vehicle or  
               license plate is available for broadcasting; and



             c)   There is information available that, if disseminated to  
               the general public, could help avert further harm or  
               accelerate apprehension of the suspect.







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          1)Establishes a "Silver Alert" notification system, designed to  
            issue and coordinate alerts if a person that is age 65 years  
            or older, developmentally disabled, or cognitively impaired is  
            missing and if the following conditions have been met:



             a)   A law enforcement agency has used all available local  
               resources to locate the missing person;



             b)   The missing person is believed to be in danger because  
               of, for example, health or weather conditions; and



             c)   It has been determined that the public dissemination of  
               information may lead to a safe recovery of the missing  
               person. 



          This bill:

          1)Establishes the "Yellow Alert" notification system and  
            authorizes CHP to activate the system for certain hit-and-run  
            incidents.    


          2)Defines a Yellow Alert as a notification designed to issue and  
            coordinate alerts that enlist the public in locating  
            hit-and-run suspects when a hit-and-run incident results in  
            death or injury.



          3)Authorizes a law enforcement agency to request that CHP  
            activate a Yellow Alert if all of the following conditions are  
            met:








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             a)   There is an indication that a suspect has fled the scene  
               utilizing the state highway system;





             b)   Certain identifying information about the hit-and-run  
               suspect or the suspect's vehicle is available, such as a  
               complete license plate number or the identity of the  
               suspect; and 



             c)   If law enforcement believes that public dissemination of  
               the available information will aid in apprehending the  
               suspect or averting further harm.



          4)Authorizes the CHP, if it concurs that Yellow Alert activation  
            requirements are met, to issue a Yellow Alert via local  
            digital signs within the geographic area requested by the  
            investigating law enforcement agency.





          5)Allows the CHP to prioritize activation of alerts based on any  
            factor.



          6)Sunsets on January 1, 2019.

          Comments

          Purpose. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration  
          reports that the number of hit-and-run accidents is increasing  
          nationally.  According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety,  
          one in five of all pedestrian fatalities involve hit-and-run  







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          accidents and 60% of hit-and-run fatalities have pedestrian  
          victims.  Additionally, USA Today writes that in 2013 an  
          estimated 20,000 hit-and-run incidents occur each year in the  
          City of Los Angeles alone, and 4,000 of these incidents involved  
          injuries or death.


          To address this problem, the author has introduced this bill,  
          which is modeled after legislation in Colorado (Medina Alert)  
          that has been instrumental in locating hit-and-run suspects.   
          Specifically, this bill would create a Yellow Alert notification  
          system, similar to California's successful AMBER Alert system,  
          that would authorize CHP to activate digital highway signage (as  
          well as other electronic messaging systems) when there is  
          information available to locate hit-and-run suspects.  The  
          Yellow Alert notification system would provide the public with  
          information about the hit-and-run suspect and/or the suspect's  
          vehicle and request that the public be on the lookout and report  
          information to law enforcement.

          Emergency alert system background.  The nation's first AMBER  
          Alert was established in 1996, and named after 9-year-old Amber  
          Hagerman who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle and brutally  
          murdered in Arlington, Texas.  The alert system was intended to  
          help inform local residents to search for a child who was  
          abducted nearby.  AMBER is an acronym for America's Missing:  
          Broadcast Emergency Response. 

          The alerts were initially issued over broadcasting channels  
          designed to alert residents of dangerous weather events, but  
          since then they have grown to include highway billboard signs,  
          text messages, and other notification methods. Although the  
          federal government does not have direct control over the system,  
          several federal agencies have urged states to implement it.  The  
          U.S. Department of Justice created an AMBER Alert page and  
          issued guidance to states to establish criteria before issuing  
          an alert, including that the victim be at risk of serious bodily  
          injury or death, that a sufficient description to be informative  
          is included, and that law enforcement must confirm there was an  
          abduction, among others.

          California began the AMBER Alert as a regional program in 1999,  
          and in 2002 the Legislature passed AB 415 (Runner, Chapter 517),  
          establishing it statewide.  As of February 2014, there have been  







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          219 activations in California, 255 recovered victims, and 131  
          suspects arrested.  The CHP is responsible for statewide  
          coordination of the AMBER Alert system.

          In 2010, SB 839 (Runner, Chapter 311) expanded the alert system  
          to include Blue Alerts, which allow the CHP to initiate a quick  
          response to coordinate alerts following an attack on a law  
          enforcement officer if the officer was killed, suffered serious  
          bodily injury, or was assaulted with a deadly weapon and the  
          suspect remains at large. 

          Finally, in 2012 the Legislature established the Silver Alert  
          program through SB 1047 (Alquist, Chapter 651), to coordinate  
          communication after the unexplained or suspicious disappearance  
          of an elderly person.  The system is intended to provide  
          immediate attention to the public about the missing person,  
          including photographs, descriptions, and information about the  
          last time and location they were seen.  The Legislature has  
          since expanded the program to include any developmentally  
          disabled or cognitively impaired individual that otherwise meets  
          the requirements, regardless of the person's age.

          Are hit-and-runs appropriate for the alert system?  For cases in  
          which current law authorizes an emergency alert, the primary  
          imperative is to prevent imminent danger.  For an AMBER Alert to  
          be issued, a law enforcement agency must first assess if the  
          victim is "in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death"  
          and whether the widespread dissemination of pertinent  
          information to the public would assist in the safe recovery of  
          the victim.  Similarly, a Silver Alert can only be issued when a  
          person 65 years of age or older or a developmentally disabled or  
          cognitively impaired individual is reported missing and  
          determined by the law enforcement agency to be in potential  
          danger due to age or a variety of other factors.  Additionally,  
          an offending suspect needs to be considered an imminent threat  
          to the public or other law enforcement personnel before a Blue  
          Alert can be initiated after a violent attack on a law  
          enforcement officer.  Alternatively, law enforcement suggests  
          that hit-and-run offenders typically try to hide and hope they  
          cannot be identified.  This appears to be one example of how  
          hit-and-run incidents may not be appropriate for the alert  
          system.

          Further, the inherent nature of hit-and-run incidents leads to  







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          information about the suspect or the suspect's vehicle being  
          unavailable or unverifiable.  In a missing persons case, once a  
          law enforcement agency decides to request an AMBER or Silver  
          Alert, the agency often has access to an accurate description of  
          the missing person, if not a photograph or digital image, that  
          confers a high degree of certainty in the information being  
          disseminated to the public about the missing person.  In  
          essence, it is easier to identify and verify the person for whom  
          the public should be on alert.  For hit-and-run incidents, the  
          investigating law enforcement agency may have limited  
          information available that cannot be verified.  If law  
          enforcement has the suspect's identifying information necessary  
          to institute a Yellow Alert, it seems reasonable that law  
          enforcement can use that information to apprehend the suspect  
          without needing to post the information on a changeable message  
          sign.  Given this, it is unclear how hit-and-runs are  
          appropriate for the state's alert system.

          Distracted driving concerns.  A variety of constituencies have  
          conducted distracted driving studies focused on a number of  
          potential distractions.  There are studies that use data to  
          prove illuminated billboards do not lead to negative outcomes,  
          and other studies that refute these conclusions.  Nearly all  
          studies admit that, in most instances, it is very difficult to  
          identify one single factor that led to an adverse incident such  
          as an automobile accident.  Research tends to show that  
          accidents arise from an accumulation of factors, including  
          distractions in the vehicle and outside, weather conditions, and  
          even distracting thoughts within the driver's mind.

          It is clear, however, that billboards by their very nature  
          capture a driver's attention.  Advertising is intended to  
          communicate a message to the recipient, which requires some  
          attention.  One recent study of driver behavior conducted by the  
          Accident Research Center at Monash University concluded that  
          "the presence of billboards changed drivers' pattern of visual  
          attention, increased the amount of time needed for drivers to  
          respond to road signs, and increased the number of errors in the  
          driving task."  Other studies using naturalistic driving data  
          have found that, of all the various distractions contributing to  
          poor driving outcomes, visual distraction is the primary concern  
          in driver distraction.  

          This bill proposes that the state use its digital billboards to  







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          advertise to the public an alert.  While illuminated billboards  
          may not by themselves lead to adverse safety impacts, it is  
          clear that they contribute to the multiple distractions drivers  
          navigate each day.  Adding distractions, especially ones that  
          are particularly effective at drawing one's attention, can only  
          increase the risk of negative outcomes.  The question is not  
          whether these alerts on the state's changeable message signs  
          cause accidents and other negative consequences, but how many  
          distractions are enough to create an environment potentially too  
          risky and dangerous for people traveling from one place to  
          another.  

          Former CHP opposition.  In a letter dated May 15, 2015, the CHP  
          Commissioner informed the author that CHP opposed this bill.  On  
          August 25, 2015, the CHP informed the Senate that it no longer  
          opposes the bill.  CHP was concerned that this bill would  
          significantly increase the total number of alerts displayed on  
          the state's changeable message signs.  CHP asserts that this  
          will decrease the effectiveness of the AMBER Alert system, as it  
          will desensitize the public and reduce its attention to the most  
          serious child abduction cases for which the alert system is  
          currently deployed.  The increased number of alerts could also  
          lead to increased driver distraction and more dangerous  
          highways.  Recent amendments to the bill help address this  
          concern somewhat, as the bill now limits the number of Yellow  
          Alerts that might make it onto the state's changeable message  
          signs.

          In addition, CHP expressed concern that nothing in statute  
          prioritizes the various alerts, and that can become problematic  
          for CHP if they are put in the position of determining which  
          alert to post on a changeable message sign when they get more  
          than one at a time.  Recent amendments clarify that CHP can  
          prioritize alerts based on any factors they deem appropriate and  
          therefore address this concern.

          Previously vetoed legislation.  AB 47 (Gatto, 2014), which was  
          similar to this bill, was vetoed by Governor Brown on the  
          grounds that similar legislation adding developmentally disabled  
          persons to the alert system had just been signed.  The Governor  
          pointed out in his veto message that expansion of the system  
          should be tested before other categories of individuals are  
          added.  
          







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          Related Legislation
          
          AB 47 (Gatto, 2014) - which was similar to this bill, was vetoed  
          by Governor Brown.  The Governor pointed out in his veto message  
          that expansion of the system should be tested before other  
          categories of individuals are added.

          SB 1127 (Torres, Chapter 440, Statutes of 2014) included a  
          missing person who is developmentally disabled or cognitively  
          impaired among persons who may be the subject of a Silver Alert.

          SB 1047 (Alquist, Chapter 651, Statutes of 2012) established  
          California's Silver Alert System.

          SB 839 (Runner, Chapter 311, Statutes of 2010) established  
          California's Blue Alert System.
          
          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No


          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill will  
          incur estimated one-time CHP costs of approximately $100,000 to  
          develop policies and procedures, provide training, and develop  
          resource materials for staff and law enforcement agencies for  
          the new alert; non-reimbursable local law enforcement costs to  
          determine whether specified conditions are met in order to  
          request activation of a Yellow Alert; and minor and absorbable  
          ongoing CHP costs to confirm specified conditions are met and  
          issue Yellow Alerts on changeable message signs.




          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/18/15)


          ABATE of California
          American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
          American Motorcyclist Association
          Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs
          California Bicycle Coalition
          California Council of the Blind
          California Police Chiefs Association







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          California State Firefighters' Association
          California Walks
          City of Los Angeles, Office of the Mayor
          Emergency Nurses Association
          Inland Empire Biking Alliance
          Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition
          Los Angeles Walks
          Matco Inc. Construction and Restoration
          Nick's Computer Works
          People Power of Santa Cruz County
          Rails to Trails Conservancy
          Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates
          Safe Routes to School National Partnership
          San Diego County Bicycle Coalition
          San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
          San Luis Obispo County Bicycle Coalition
          Shasta Living Streets
          Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition
          Transportation Authority of Marin
          Walk and Bike Mendocino
          Walk San Francisco
          15 individuals


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/26/15)


          None received

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  79-0, 6/2/15
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,  
            Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,  
            Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,  
            Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,  
            Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,  
            Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,  
            Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,  
            Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,  
            Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,  
            Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Chávez








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          Prepared by:Eric Thronson / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
          8/26/15 10:33:40


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