BILL ANALYSIS SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE BILL NO.:.........SB 833 Senator Quentin L. Kopp, Chairman AUTHOR:.............KOPP VERSION: (Orig.): (As Amend.):..04/18/95 FISCAL:..............YES SUBJECT: Vehicle crimes: enforcement. DESCRIPTION: This urgency bill would 1) expand the authorization to use automated rail crossing enforcement systems to all places where a driver is required to stop by traffic control signals and 2) clarify conditions and procedures for the release of a vehicle impounded because the driver's license was suspended or revoked. ANALYSIS: 1. SB 1802 (Rosenthal, 1994) authorized the use of automated rail crossing enforcement systems (red light cameras) to record violations occurring at rail crossing signals and gates. The bill required signs to be posted indicating the system's presence and to be visible to approaching traffic. Use of such equipment is limited to governmental agencies in cooperation with law enforcement agencies. Persons failing to stop at activated rail crossing signals or gates and whose actions are recorded by the automatic enforcement systems may subsequently be cited by mail for the violations. This bill would extend the authorization to use automated enforcement equipment to all areas where a driver is required to obey traffic signals. The use of such photographic equipment would: a) require the system to be visible to approaching traffic and be identified by signs. b) be limited to governmental and law enforcement agencies' use. c) require photographic records to be confidential and used only for traffic control device enforcement. 2. SB 1758 (Kopp, 1994) enacted provisions authorizing the impoundment for 30 days of vehicles driven by persons with suspended or revoked drivers' licenses or who were never licensed. The legislation also made it unlawful to provide a vehicle to such a driver if the nonlicensed status is known and also enacted related enforcement provisions. This bill would clarify the application of the vehicle impoundment provisions and specify conditions and procedures for the release of a vehicle prior to 30 days. It would: SB 833 (KOPP) Page 3 ________________________________________________________________ a) authorize the impoundment for 30 days of a vehicle involved in an accident and driven by a suspended or revoked driver, without the necessity of arresting the driver. b) allow the impounding agency to consider any mitigating circumstances during a hearing to determine the validity of a 30-day impoundment. c) require an impounding agency to release a vehicle prior to the end of the 30-day period: 1) when the vehicle was stolen. 2) when the vehicle was driven by an unlicensed employee of a business (e.g., parking service or repair facility). 3) when the driver's license was suspended or revoked for minor or nondriving-related violations. 4) all towing and storage fees and charges are paid. d) require the release of an impounded vehicle to the legal owner before 30 days if: 1) the legal owner is a specified financial institution, vehicle dealer or rental agency. 2) all towing and storage fees and charges are paid. 3) the legal owner presents foreclosure or repossession documents to the impounding agency. e) prohibit vehicles released early to legal owners from subsequently being returned to the original or registered driver and prohibit rental agencies from renting another vehicle to the cited driver before the 30 days expired. f) restore to misdemeanor status, rather than an infraction, the crime of driving with a suspended or revoked license, in order to correct a technical drafting error in SB 1758. COMMENTS: 1. Sponsors of the red light photographic enforcement equipment provisions cite the use of such equipment in reducing the rate of violations as well as the number of accidents and fatalities at SB 833 (KOPP) Page 4 ________________________________________________________________ intersections. Various studies and tests of the equipment have concluded that a substantial portion of urban vehicle crashes occur at intersections involving drivers running through red lights. Such violators, as a group, are younger, less likely to wear seatbelts, and have poorer driving records. Reports from Victoria, Canada showed a 72 percent drop in red light violations while Melbourne, Australia reported a 30 percent reduction in traffic fatalities, both cases attributable to use of the automated enforcement units. SB 833 (KOPP) Page 5 ________________________________________________________________ 2. Law enforcement agencies throughout the state have made frequent and effective use of the recently-enacted vehicle impoundment provisions, impounding thousands of vehicles being operated by suspended or revoked drivers. In addition to taking such drivers off the road, police agencies indicate that such impoundments have proved effective in suppressing other criminal activity involving the use of vehicles. Also, there are reports that many unlicensed persons have acted to clear up their driver's license status with the Department of Motor Vehicles. 3. The bill's impoundment and release provisions are intended to address uncertainties and situations which have arisen since SB 1758 took effect in January, 1995. Numerous financial institutions and rental agencies have reported their inability to reclaim vehicles they legally own but which are leased, financed or rented to others. Some law enforcement agencies have refused to release such vehicles before the end of 30 days, resulting in significant impoundment charges to the legal owners when the registered owners subsequently do not reclaim the vehicles. Provisions clarifying relief from impoundment for stolen vehicles or those left with parking or repair services are consistent with the author's clarification in the Senate Journal on August 31, 1995. The bill's misdemeanor provisions for driving unlicensed correct a drafting error in the original legislation. 4. Clarifying amendments. The California Highway Patrol and representatives of financial institutions have suggested additional clarifying amendments, including: * deferral of any lien sale proceedings on an impounded vehicle until 15 days after the impoundment period. * adding references to credit unions and acceptance corporations relative to release to legal owners. * cross-referencing existing provisions which preclude the assignment of delinquent parking citations to a vehicle's legal, rather than registered, owner. POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on Wednesday, April 26, 1995.) SUPPORT: SB 833 (KOPP) Page 6 ________________________________________________________________ OPPOSED: 04/26/95