DRFTR8
01-04-2007, 10:37 AM
From the governor state assembly:
Governor Signs Benoit Illegal Street Racing Measure
AB 2190 received unanimous votes in both houses of the Legislature
9/25/2006
For Immediate Release
CONTACTS: Barry Nestande - District Office
951-369-6644
David Duran - Capitol Office
916-319-2064
SACRAMENTO – Assemblyman John J. Benoit (R-Palm Desert) today announced that Governor Schwarzenegger has signed into law the Assemblyman’s measure to increase penalties for reckless driving and motor vehicle speed contests.
“I applaud the Governor for recognizing the urgent need to combat this growing problem,” said Assemblyman Benoit. “The deadly duo of illegal street racing and reckless driving are becoming all too common throughout California and are being needlessly glorified by movies like this year’s The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift. These extremely dangerous activities put innocent Californians at risk of serious injury and death.”
Each year, hundreds of people are injured or killed while engaging in this rapidly growing and very dangerous pastime. According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, 7,640 drivers were convicted for engaging in a motor vehicle speed contest in 2005 alone – a 9% increase from 2004.
San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Blaine Bowman, who testified in support of AB 2190 said, “I recently prosecuted a case where justice could not be accomplished, where critical life altering injuries and disabilities resulted from an illegal street race, and we could only charge a misdemeanor. This new law is critically necessary and will deter some and allow appropriate prosecution of others who do not heed the strong, clear warning it sends.”
Currently, if a driver is engaged in illegal street racing and causes bodily injury to another person, that driver is charged with a misdemeanor. Under AB 2190, that driver could be charged with either a misdemeanor or a felony.
AB 2190 received unanimous votes in both houses of the Legislature. The measure was sponsored by the California District Attorneys Association and supported by the Peace Officers Research Association of California, the California State Sheriff’s Association, the Riverside County Sheriff and the police departments of Riverside, Ontario and San Diego.
From the California DMV:
California Department of Motor Vehicles
Media Relations Office
2415 First Avenue, MS F-122, Sacramento, CA 95818
Contact: Mike Marando, Steve Haskins, Armando Botello, Mike Miller December 20, 2006
Sacramento—During the 2006 legislative year, almost 1400 bills were passed and more than 900 signed into law—including 145 changes to the California Vehicle Code. Many of the changes to existing traffic-related laws take effect on Jan. 1, 2007.
Among the new laws about to go into effect are increased penalties for street racing (speed contests), an increase in the suspension of a driver license to 10 months for first-time DUI offenders with a BAC of .20, and legislation that requires the DMV to report DUI convictions on a public driving record for 10 years, instead of the current reporting period of seven years.
While these new laws have a direct effect on all of the state’s 23 million drivers, the California Department of Motor Vehicles wants to ensure that everyone who gets behind the wheel in the New Year is aware of the most significant statutory changes.
“Responsible drivers must know, understand and stay current on the many important laws that help keep us all safe on the thousands of miles of state roadways,” said DMV Director George Valverde. “DMV maintains an updated version of the California Vehicle Code on our Web site as well as summaries of all new traffic-related laws, and we encourage all drivers to keep their knowledge of the many “rules-of-the-road” as current as possible."
Following is an abbreviated summary of the new laws that in most cases will take effect Jan. 1, 2007, unless indicated otherwise.
(Note: ‘AB’ denotes a bill that was originated in the California State Assembly, and ‘SB’ denotes a bill that originated in the California State Senate. The names after the bill numbers are the persons who authored the bills. All of the bills have been signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.)
DRIVER LICENSING, DRIVER SAFETY, FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:
AB 1850 (Mountjoy)--Creates a new infraction for either allowing a person to ride or actually ride in the trunk of a car. Persons found guilty will be subject to a fine, and the driver will have a negligent operator point” attached to his/her license.
AB 2190 (Benoit)--Increases the penalties for reckless driving or engaging in a speed contest of some kind. Specified injuries to others as a result would subject first-offenders to hefty fines and jail or prison time ranging from 30 days to six months.
AB 2542 (Daucher)--Requires DMV to use grant money to continue the study of a non-age based Three-Tier Driver Assessment system to identify functional impairments in California drivers. The department has developed a program that will soon be piloted in several DMV offices in Northern California for further evaluation.
SB 1610 (Simitian)--Requires drivers to take specific precautionary actions on a highway when passing a stopped emergency vehicle when emergency lights are activated. The law makes it an infraction not to properly comply with directions from on-scene personnel.
SB 1613 (Simitian)--Establishes the California Wireless Telephone Act that as of July 1, 2008, prohibits drivers from operating their vehicles while using a hand-held cell phone. Hands-free devices are allowed, and there are a several exemptions for emergency use. Persons who are cited will face a $20 fine for a first offense, and a $50 fine for each subsequent offense.
SB 1756 (Migden)--Increases the mandatory suspension of driver licenses from 6 months to 10 months for any first DUI offense when the person’s blood alcohol content (BAC) is .20 or higher. The legal threshold for a DUI offense is .08.
RECORDS AND CONFIDENTIALITY
SB 1586 (Lowenthal)--Allows greater public access, including insurance companies, to DUI conviction information for violations that occurred in the past 10 years; currently only law-enforcement and the courts are able to access this information for that specific length of time.
AB 2169 (Mountjoy)--Extends the “Safe at Home Law” for five years to Jan. 1, 2013. This program is run by the California Secretary of State’s Office, and creates an alternative driver license address for victims of domestic violence and/or stalking. The law also allows DMV to continue “suppressing” victims’ license and vehicle registration records.
AB 2291 (Evans)--Prohibits computer vendors, vehicle manufacturers and other specified entities from accessing personal information from a vehicle dealer’s computer system that stores customers’ private information without the dealer consent. (The practice is known as “data mining.”)
VEHICLE REGISTRATION
AB 2600 (Lieber)--Requires owners of hybrid vehicles in the nine San Francisco Bay-Area counties that have been issued Clean Air Stickers by DMV to maintain enrollment in the FasTrak automated toll-collection program administered by the Metropolitan Transit Authority so that proper tolls can continue to be collected by hybrid drivers who live and work in the area.
AB 2120 (Liu)--Allows nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physicians’ assistants to substantiate a disability for the purpose of allowing the issuance of a disabled or a disabled veteran’s placard. Current law allows only licensed physicians to certify a disability to obtain a placard.
To easily access the California Vehicle Code for further information, simply log on to the DMV website at www.dmv.ca.gov and click on the “Publications” button in the upper left hand corner of the home page. The DMV driver handbook is also on the web at the same location. The 2007 version of the handbook will be published for distribution to all 169 DMV field officers shortly after the first of the year, and will also be updated and available on the Internet at the same time. (The 2006 version will be available until that time).
###
DMV MEDIA RELATIONS:
[email protected]
PHONE (916) 657-6437
FAX (916) 657-8282
Governor Signs Benoit Illegal Street Racing Measure
AB 2190 received unanimous votes in both houses of the Legislature
9/25/2006
For Immediate Release
CONTACTS: Barry Nestande - District Office
951-369-6644
David Duran - Capitol Office
916-319-2064
SACRAMENTO – Assemblyman John J. Benoit (R-Palm Desert) today announced that Governor Schwarzenegger has signed into law the Assemblyman’s measure to increase penalties for reckless driving and motor vehicle speed contests.
“I applaud the Governor for recognizing the urgent need to combat this growing problem,” said Assemblyman Benoit. “The deadly duo of illegal street racing and reckless driving are becoming all too common throughout California and are being needlessly glorified by movies like this year’s The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift. These extremely dangerous activities put innocent Californians at risk of serious injury and death.”
Each year, hundreds of people are injured or killed while engaging in this rapidly growing and very dangerous pastime. According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, 7,640 drivers were convicted for engaging in a motor vehicle speed contest in 2005 alone – a 9% increase from 2004.
San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Blaine Bowman, who testified in support of AB 2190 said, “I recently prosecuted a case where justice could not be accomplished, where critical life altering injuries and disabilities resulted from an illegal street race, and we could only charge a misdemeanor. This new law is critically necessary and will deter some and allow appropriate prosecution of others who do not heed the strong, clear warning it sends.”
Currently, if a driver is engaged in illegal street racing and causes bodily injury to another person, that driver is charged with a misdemeanor. Under AB 2190, that driver could be charged with either a misdemeanor or a felony.
AB 2190 received unanimous votes in both houses of the Legislature. The measure was sponsored by the California District Attorneys Association and supported by the Peace Officers Research Association of California, the California State Sheriff’s Association, the Riverside County Sheriff and the police departments of Riverside, Ontario and San Diego.
From the California DMV:
California Department of Motor Vehicles
Media Relations Office
2415 First Avenue, MS F-122, Sacramento, CA 95818
Contact: Mike Marando, Steve Haskins, Armando Botello, Mike Miller December 20, 2006
Sacramento—During the 2006 legislative year, almost 1400 bills were passed and more than 900 signed into law—including 145 changes to the California Vehicle Code. Many of the changes to existing traffic-related laws take effect on Jan. 1, 2007.
Among the new laws about to go into effect are increased penalties for street racing (speed contests), an increase in the suspension of a driver license to 10 months for first-time DUI offenders with a BAC of .20, and legislation that requires the DMV to report DUI convictions on a public driving record for 10 years, instead of the current reporting period of seven years.
While these new laws have a direct effect on all of the state’s 23 million drivers, the California Department of Motor Vehicles wants to ensure that everyone who gets behind the wheel in the New Year is aware of the most significant statutory changes.
“Responsible drivers must know, understand and stay current on the many important laws that help keep us all safe on the thousands of miles of state roadways,” said DMV Director George Valverde. “DMV maintains an updated version of the California Vehicle Code on our Web site as well as summaries of all new traffic-related laws, and we encourage all drivers to keep their knowledge of the many “rules-of-the-road” as current as possible."
Following is an abbreviated summary of the new laws that in most cases will take effect Jan. 1, 2007, unless indicated otherwise.
(Note: ‘AB’ denotes a bill that was originated in the California State Assembly, and ‘SB’ denotes a bill that originated in the California State Senate. The names after the bill numbers are the persons who authored the bills. All of the bills have been signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.)
DRIVER LICENSING, DRIVER SAFETY, FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:
AB 1850 (Mountjoy)--Creates a new infraction for either allowing a person to ride or actually ride in the trunk of a car. Persons found guilty will be subject to a fine, and the driver will have a negligent operator point” attached to his/her license.
AB 2190 (Benoit)--Increases the penalties for reckless driving or engaging in a speed contest of some kind. Specified injuries to others as a result would subject first-offenders to hefty fines and jail or prison time ranging from 30 days to six months.
AB 2542 (Daucher)--Requires DMV to use grant money to continue the study of a non-age based Three-Tier Driver Assessment system to identify functional impairments in California drivers. The department has developed a program that will soon be piloted in several DMV offices in Northern California for further evaluation.
SB 1610 (Simitian)--Requires drivers to take specific precautionary actions on a highway when passing a stopped emergency vehicle when emergency lights are activated. The law makes it an infraction not to properly comply with directions from on-scene personnel.
SB 1613 (Simitian)--Establishes the California Wireless Telephone Act that as of July 1, 2008, prohibits drivers from operating their vehicles while using a hand-held cell phone. Hands-free devices are allowed, and there are a several exemptions for emergency use. Persons who are cited will face a $20 fine for a first offense, and a $50 fine for each subsequent offense.
SB 1756 (Migden)--Increases the mandatory suspension of driver licenses from 6 months to 10 months for any first DUI offense when the person’s blood alcohol content (BAC) is .20 or higher. The legal threshold for a DUI offense is .08.
RECORDS AND CONFIDENTIALITY
SB 1586 (Lowenthal)--Allows greater public access, including insurance companies, to DUI conviction information for violations that occurred in the past 10 years; currently only law-enforcement and the courts are able to access this information for that specific length of time.
AB 2169 (Mountjoy)--Extends the “Safe at Home Law” for five years to Jan. 1, 2013. This program is run by the California Secretary of State’s Office, and creates an alternative driver license address for victims of domestic violence and/or stalking. The law also allows DMV to continue “suppressing” victims’ license and vehicle registration records.
AB 2291 (Evans)--Prohibits computer vendors, vehicle manufacturers and other specified entities from accessing personal information from a vehicle dealer’s computer system that stores customers’ private information without the dealer consent. (The practice is known as “data mining.”)
VEHICLE REGISTRATION
AB 2600 (Lieber)--Requires owners of hybrid vehicles in the nine San Francisco Bay-Area counties that have been issued Clean Air Stickers by DMV to maintain enrollment in the FasTrak automated toll-collection program administered by the Metropolitan Transit Authority so that proper tolls can continue to be collected by hybrid drivers who live and work in the area.
AB 2120 (Liu)--Allows nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physicians’ assistants to substantiate a disability for the purpose of allowing the issuance of a disabled or a disabled veteran’s placard. Current law allows only licensed physicians to certify a disability to obtain a placard.
To easily access the California Vehicle Code for further information, simply log on to the DMV website at www.dmv.ca.gov and click on the “Publications” button in the upper left hand corner of the home page. The DMV driver handbook is also on the web at the same location. The 2007 version of the handbook will be published for distribution to all 169 DMV field officers shortly after the first of the year, and will also be updated and available on the Internet at the same time. (The 2006 version will be available until that time).
###
DMV MEDIA RELATIONS:
[email protected]
PHONE (916) 657-6437
FAX (916) 657-8282