California Assembly Bill AB45 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 45AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 9, 2011 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 11, 2011 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hill DECEMBER 6, 2010 An act to amend Sections 5384.1 and 5384.5 of the Public Utilities Code, and to  add Section 40000.20 to   amend Section 23229.1 of, and to add Section 40000.20 to,  the Vehicle Code, relating to charter-party carriers of passengers. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 45, as amended, Hill. Charter-party carriers of passengers: alcoholic beverages: open containers. The Passenger Charter-party Carriers' Act, with certain exceptions, prohibits a charter-party carrier of passengers from engaging in transportation services subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission without obtaining a specified certificate or permit, as appropriate, from the commission. The act, except as specified, requires the driver of any limousine for hire operated by a charter-party carrier of passengers (carrier) under a valid certificate or permit to comply with prescribed requirements relating to alcoholic beverages, including ascertaining whether any passenger is under the age of 21 years, reading to the passenger a statement that the consumption of any alcoholic beverage in the vehicle is unlawful, requiring such a passenger to sign the statement, and, if a minor passenger, after signing the statement, is found to be, or to have been, consuming any alcoholic beverage during the course of the ride, immediately terminating the contract of hire and returning the passenger to the point of origin. The act also subjects the carrier to specified civil penalties, based on the number of offenses, for conviction of a driver, or any officer, director, agent, or employee of the carrier, of a violation of the Vehicle Code that prohibits storage of an opened container of an alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle. This bill would expand the application of those alcoholic beverage provisions concerning passengers under the age of 21 years by applying those requirements, except as specified, to the driver of any vehicle used in the transportation of passengers for hire operated by a permitted or certificated carrier. The bill would  subject such a driver to existing open container prohibitions and  make the 3rd or subsequent violation of  the   a specified  open container prohibition by a driver of any vehicle used in the transportation of passengers for hire operating under a valid certificate or permit a misdemeanor. The bill, by creating a new crime, would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Brett Studebaker Law. SEC. 2. Section 5384.1 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 5384.1. (a) The driver of any vehicle used in the transportation of passengers for hire operated by a charter-party carrier of passengers under a valid certificate or permit shall do all of the following: (1) The driver shall ascertain whether any passenger is under the age of 21 years. (2) If any passenger is under the age of 21 years, the driver shall read to the passenger a statement that the consumption of any alcoholic beverage in the vehicle is unlawful, that no alcoholic beverage may be transported in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, that all alcoholic beverages are required to be carried in the vehicle trunk or other locked compartment, and that, if during the course of the ride any minor is found to be, or to have been, consuming any alcoholic beverage, the contract will be terminated and the customer will be brought back to the point of origin of the ride. (3) After reading the statement described in paragraph (2) to every passenger under the age of 21 years, the driver shall require every passenger under the age of 21 years to sign the statement. The operator of the vehicle shall retain the signed statement for the period required by the commission. (4) If any minor passenger, after signing a statement pursuant to paragraph (3), is found to be, or to have been, consuming any alcoholic beverage during the course of any ride subject to this section, the driver shall immediately terminate the contract of hire and shall return the passengers to the point of origin of the ride. (b) Any failure of a driver to comply with subdivision (a) that results in the conviction of the driver of a violation of Section 23225 of the Vehicle Code, shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in Section 5384.5. (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this section does not prohibit a parent or legal guardian from consuming alcoholic beverages in a vehicle used in the transportation of passengers for hire while accompanied by his or her minor children. (d) This section does not apply to the driver of any of the following: (1) A bus, taxicab, or van exempted from this chapter pursuant to Section 5353. (2) A pupil activity bus, including any motor vehicle specified in subdivision (k) of Section 545 of the Vehicle Code. (3) A school pupil activity bus, as defined in Section 546 of the Vehicle Code. (4) A vehicle for a charter-party carrier that has been engaged to provide transportation for minors accompanied by a legal guardian or parent. SEC. 3. Section 5384.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 5384.5. If the driver of any vehicle used in the transportation of passengers for hire operating under a valid certificate or permit, or any officer, director, agent, or employee of a charter-party carrier of passengers operating vehicles used in the transportation of passengers for hire under such a certificate or permit, is convicted of a violation of Section 23225 of the Vehicle Code, the commission, after a hearing, shall do the following: (a) For a first offense, the commission may impose a civil penalty of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) upon the carrier, as determined appropriate by the commission. (b) For a second offense, the commission may impose a civil penalty of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) upon the carrier or suspend the carrier's  certificate or  permit for not more than 30 days, or both, as determined appropriate by the commission. (c) For a third offense, the commission shall revoke the carrier's  certificate or  permit. A third or subsequent offense shall also be punishable pursuant to Section 40000.20 of the Vehicle Code.  SEC. 4.   Section 23229.1 of the   Vehicle Code   is amended to read:  23229.1. (a) Subject to subdivision (b), Sections 23223 and 23225 apply to any charter-party carrier of passengers, as defined in Section 5360 of the Public Utilities Code, operating a  limousine   vehicle used in the transportation of passengers  for hire when the driver of the vehicle transports any passenger under the age of 21. (b) For purposes of subdivision (a), it is not a violation of Section 23225 for any charter-party carrier of passengers operating a  limousine   vehicle used in the transportation of passengers  for hire that is licensed pursuant to the Public Utilities Code to keep any bottle, can, or other receptacle containing any alcoholic beverage in a locked utility compartment within the area occupied by the driver and passengers. (c) In addition to the requirements of Section 1803, every clerk of a court in which any driver in subdivision (a) was convicted of a violation of Section 23225 shall prepare within 10 days after conviction, and immediately forward to the Public Utilities Commission at its office in San Francisco, an abstract of the record of the court covering the case in which the person was convicted. If sentencing is not pronounced in conjunction with the conviction, the abstract shall be forwarded to the commission within 10 days after sentencing, and the abstract shall be certified, by the person required to prepare it, to be true and correct. For the purposes of this subdivision, a forfeiture of bail is equivalent to a conviction.  SEC. 4.   SEC. 5.  Section 40000.20 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read: 40000.20. A third or subsequent violation of Section 23225, relating to storage of an opened container of an alcoholic beverage, by a driver of any vehicle used in the transportation of passengers for hire, operating under a valid certificate or permit pursuant to the Passenger Charter-party Carriers' Act (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 5351) of Division 2 of the Public Utilities Code), is a misdemeanor.  SEC. 5.   SEC. 6.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.