New
Driving Laws
California
and Nevada state legislators have passed a number of new laws
affecting motorists. California laws
go into effect January 1, 1998, except as noted. Nevada’s
laws already are in effect, except as noted. Utah’s legislature
meets early in 1998; most new Utah laws go into effect July 1,
and VIA will publish a summary of them in the July/August
issue. A digest of motoring laws is available for inspection at
AAA district offices. Complete legal codes are available from
the Legislative
Counsel of the State of California and the Nevada
State Legislature. Here are some of the highlights:
California
Teen
licensing: Sponsored by AAA, the Brady-Jared Teen Driver
Safety Act of 1997 (Senate Bill 1329, Leslie, R-Tahoe City)
implements a graduated licensing program for teen drivers. Goes
into effect July 1, 1998. Under this law, teens:
- Must hold
a permit for six months before applying for a provisional license.
- Must practice
for a minimum of 50 hours, 10 at night (certified by a parent
or guardian).
- Cannot transport
other teens for 6 months unless accompanied by a licensed driver
who is at least 25.
- Cannot drive
between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. for the first 12 months
unless accompanied by a licensed driver who is at least 25.
Under the previous
law:
- Teenagers
had to hold a permit for 30 days before applying for a license.
- There was
no minimum requirement for practice hours.
- There was
no nighttime driving restriction.
- There were
no passenger restrictions.
Enforcement
of the Brady-Jared Act is based on a secondary violation, not a
primary offense. This means that the teen driver will not be stopped
by an enforcement officer solely because he or she is suspected
of being in violation of Brady-Jared.
The law includes
exemptions to the nighttime driving restriction for work, school,
medical, and family reasons. Also, the family exception allows teens
to carry family member passengers.
Safety
belts: The existing seat belt law and child passenger restraint
law are extended to apply to any passenger vehicle, motor truck,
or truck tractor (with the exception of sleeping berths) under AB
1289 (Cardenas, D-Sylmar).
School
buses: Under AB 1297 (Morrow, R-Oceanside), school bus
drivers must activate flashing red signal lights and the stop signal
arm at all times when the bus is stopped for the purpose of loading
and unloading students, regardless of whether they must cross the
street.
Red
lights: The base fine for running a red light increases
to $100 under Assembly Bill 1191 (Shelley, D-San Francisco). Penalty
assessment fees on a $100 fine bring the total cost of the violation
to $270. Subsequent offenses would be subject to the same fine.
Drug
offenses: The DMV is authorized to suspend immediately
or delay the driver’s license of any person for six months
on receipt of a court abstract showing that the person has been
convicted of any specified controlled substance offense under AB
74 (Bowler, R-Elk Grove). Each successive offense is to be followed
by an additional six month suspension. This last provision becomes
inoperative on June 30, 1999, and is repealed on January 1, 2000.
Registration
fees: Vehicle registration fees increase by $1 effective
November 1, 1997, under AB 1591 (House, R-Hughson). Effective September
1, 1997, the law also increased vehicle transfer fees by $2. The
transfer fees increase an additional $2 in 1998 and $1 more in 1999.
The vehicle
registration fee goes up $1 in any county adopting a specified resolution
for the support of local programs to provide automated mobile and
fixed location finger print identification systems under SB 720
(Lockyer, D-Hayward). The fee authority sunsets January 1, 2003.
Traffic
violator school: Persons ordered or permitted to attend
traffic violator school must pay an additional $24 fee between October
6, 1997, and the end of September, 1998, under SB 162 (Haynes, R-Murietta).
Bridge
tolls: Tolls on Bay Area bridges owned by the state (this
does not include the Golden Gate Bridge) will rise by $1 under SB
60 (Kopp, I-San Francisco). The increase, in effect for eight years,
is to contribute toward seismic retrofitting of the bridges.
Gas
tax: All nine Bay Area counties can vote on a gas tax increase
not to exceed ten cents per gallon under AB 595 (Brown, D-Sonoma).
The tax would stay in effect for 20 years. The proceeds would be
used on transportation improvements, maintenance, road, and mass
transit projects.
New
car exemptions: A package of bills changes California’s
Smog Check law: AB 1492 (Baugh, R-Huntington Beach) exempts cars
up to four model years old from having to comply with biennial smog
checks and allows "Gross Polluters" to be eligible for
a one-time repair cost waiver and places a $450 cap on repair costs.
In addition, AB 1492 repeals the option a new car owner had to pay
a $39 donation fee for an exemption from the first biennial smog
renewal inspection requirement.
Repair
caps: Low income auto owners with potentially high-cost
smog repairs get a break under AB 57 (Escutia, D-Bell) and AB 208
(Migden, D-San Francisco). They provide for a program to assist
low income motorists by capping their out-of-pocket smog repair
costs at $250, instead of $450, and create an economic hardship
and repair fund. Vehicles exempt from the smog certificate requirement
because they are four model years old or newer are subject to an
annual smog abatement fee of $4.
Older
model exemptions: Cars built before 1974 (rather than 1966
under previous law) are exempted from having to comply with biennial
smog checks under SB 42 (Kopp, I-San Francisco). Beginning in 2003,
cars 30 or more model years old are exempted. This means the cutoff
age for exemption would move up one model year annually.
Nevada
Used
cars: A used car retailer must inspect for soundness and
safety the engine and drivetrain of any car with an odometer reading
of 75,000 miles or more and disclose in writing any defects found
under Assembly Bill 178 (Buckley, R-Las Vegas).
Dealers must
also provide a written warranty to correct any defect in a component
or system of the engine or drivetrain for between two days or 100
miles and 30 days or 1,000 miles depending on the vehicle’s
odometer reading at time of sale.
Driver
education: Drivers under age 18 must complete a course
in driver’s education and 50 hours of parent/guardian certified
experience in driving with an instruction permit under AB 404 (Cegavske,
R-Clark). This provision is effective October 1, 1998.
The bill exempts
those between 16 and 18 from the driver’s education requirement
if the public school in which the licensee is enrolled is in a county
of less than 35,000 population or in a city or town with less than
25,000 population and the public school does not offer driver’s
education.
Speeding
fines: The penalty for a speed violation in a construction
zone is doubled when workers are present under AB 456 (Committee
on Judiciary). The maximum penalty is a $1,000 fine and six month’s
jail time or 120 hours of community service work. The bill also
requires a notice of the zone be posted at the beginning and end
of such a zone.
DUI:
Known as the "zero tolerance law," AB 584 (Committee
on Judiciary) provides for an immediate 90-day suspension of the
driver’s license or permit of a person under the age of 21
when driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.02 or greater.
Nevada’s
Supreme Court has interpreted that state’s DUI law to preclude
out-of-state DUI convictions from being counted. For example, a
person with four California DUI convictions who for the first time
is convicted for DUI in Nevada, would be considered a first-time
offender.
AB 241 (Buckley,
D-Las Vegas) is intended to clarify that an out-of-state DUI conviction
counts as a DUI conviction under Nevada law as it relates to persons
eligible for entering a drug and alcohol treatment program and receiving
a deferred sentence. The goal is to stop serious offenders from
being accepted into a treatment program and receiving a lesser sentence.
New
car deadline: When a new car is purchased, it must be registered
with the DMV in ten rather than twenty days under AB 131 (Committee
on Transportation). The bill also requires new car dealers, rather
than buyers, to collect and submit to the DMV the fee for a certificate
of title.
Drug
offenses: AB 176 (Cegavske, R-Clark); a court must suspend
or delay a minor’s driving license for 90 days to two years
for possession, use, selling, or purchasing of drugs (controlled
substances) or alcoholic beverages.
Speeding
fines: The fine for a person driving in excess of
the posted speed limit by not more than 5 mph, except in a county
with a population of 100,000 or more, is limited to $25 by Senate
Bill 137 (Rhoads, R-Elko). Any such violation is not recorded as
a moving violation with the DMV, so can have no effect on insurance
rates.
Classic
Cars: Owners of certain older cars and of five or more
cars benefit under SB 430 (Washington, R-Reno). The bill exempts
restored vehicles with "old timer," "street rod,"
"classic rod," or "classic vehicle" special
license plates from emissions standards and testing. However, it
does require the state’s environmental agency to set criteria
for condition and functioning of the restored vehicles and authorizes
them to require an evaluation conducted at an authorized inspection
station. The bill also reduces the $33 per car registration fee
for each fifth and subsequent car registered to a person.
Unpaid
tickets: Under current law, the DMV is required not to
renew a vehicle registration when unpaid parking tickets exist.
Formerly, a person could pay his fine plus an additional DMV fee
at the time of renewal at a DMV office. Under SB 366 (Committee
on Transportation), the fine must be paid to the local authority
before registration renewal.
Proof
of insurance: Nevada law provides for cancellation of a
vehicle’s registration unless proof of insurance exists. The
recently instituted system of insurance verification ran into problems
which are addressed by AB 36 (Carpenter, R-Elko).
Among the provisions
is elimination of the $50 reinstatement fee for erroneous registration
cancellation, provision for greater accuracy when the DMV matches
its information with an insurer’s information, and authorization
for an owner’s insurance agent, as well as an insurer’s
home office, to verify insurance.
Under the old
system, when a motorist was advised by the DMV that the state was
unable to verify insurance, the owner had 10 days to return insurance
information to the DMV. That time limit is doubled to 20 days under
the new law. And it allows an additional 15 days when a second notice
from DMV is received. In addition, the owner of a dormant vehicle
must cancel the vehicle’s registration before canceling the
insurance.
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