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
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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
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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
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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
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    OPPOSED:  




                                                              04/26/95