AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: April 12, 2022
Item Number:
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council
From: Cynthia Owens, Policy and Management Analyst
Subject: RATIFICATION OF A LETTER OF SUPPORT SENT BY CITY MANAGER GEORGE CHAVEZ ON ASSEMBLY BILL 2000 (GABRIEL)
MOTOR VEHICLE SPEED CONTESTS AND EXHIBITIONS OF
SPEED IN OFF-STREET PARKING FACILITIES
Attachments: 1. Email Request from Assembly Gabriel’s Office
2. Letter of Support – AB 2000
3. AB 2000 Bill Text
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council ratify the action taken by City Manager George Chavez to send a letter of support for Assembly Bill 2000 (Gabriel) Motor vehicle speed contests and exhibitions of speed in off-street parking facilities (“AB 2000”) at the direction of Mayor Robert Wunderlich.
INTRODUCTION
Staff from Assemblymember Gabriel’s office contacted the City on July 5, 2021, requesting a letter of support be sent by March 23, 2022 on AB 2000 requesting the City support this bill (Attachment 1) as our City has supported similar bills in the past. This bill would make it a crime for a person to engage in a motor vehicle speed contest in an offstreet parking facility or an exhibition of speed in an off-street parking facility, or to aid or abet therein. As this bill was referred to the Assembly Transportation Committee for April 4, 2022, and the bill’s author was requesting a letter of support to be sent prior to that meeting, Mayor Wunderlich directed the City Manager to send a letter of support (Attachment 2). This item requests the City Council ratify the action taken by the City Manager at the direction of the Mayor to send a letter of support for AB 2000 (Attachment 2).
D-12
Meeting Date: April 12, 2022
DISCUSSION
In 2021, the California Highway Patrol (“CHP”) reported over 25,000 calls involving exhibition of speed and speed contests. Over the past five years, CHP reported a nearly 300 percent increase in exhibition of speed citations. According to CHP, 47 percent of these crashes result in injury, 42 percent result in property damage, and 11 percent result in death.
Statewide law enforcement groups have identified driver’s license suspensions as an effective tool for deterrence for illegal street racing activity. In 2019, California courts ordered 349 driver’s license suspensions for speed contests. Of those cases, the recidivism rates dropped by 99 percent. AB 2000 builds on this knowledge by allowing courts to issue license suspensions upon conviction of exhibition of speed in a parking lot, if the violation was a part of a sideshow.
Specifically, AB 2000 outlines numerous punishments for someone found guilty under AB 2000 including but not limited to:
Be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 24 hours nor more than 90 days or by a fine of not less than $355.00 nor more than $1,000 or by both the fine and imprisonment.
The person shall also be required to perform 40 hours of community service. The court may order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months.
The person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from that person’s place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform the duties of the person’s employment, restricted to driving in that person’s scope of employment.
Staff estimates there is little to no fiscal impact associated with this item.
Nancy Hunt Coffey
Assistant City Manager
Approved By
The fines, imprisonment, and suspension of a driver’s license all increase if someone is seriously injured by the incident.
As the legislative matters contained in AB 2000 are not addressed in the City’s Legislative Platform, and the Assembly Transportation Committee scheduled AB 2000 for a hearing on April 4, 2022, staff requested the Mayor consider directing the City Manager to send a letter of support. This process is outlined in the City Council Policy & Operations Manual for legislative matters that require a quick response.
Staff received direction from the Mayor on March 25, 2022, and a letter was sent on March 28, 2022 to members of the state legislature. Staff is requesting the City Council ratify the action taken by the City Manager at the direction of the Mayor to send a letter of support for AB 2000.
FISCAL IMPACT
Attachment 1
1 Cindy Owens
From: Marty, Noah <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2022 2:47 PM
To: Cindy Owens
Subject: AB 2000 - Support
Attachments: AB 2000 (Gabriel) Fact Sheet.pdf; AB 2000 Language.pdf CAUTION: External Sender
Use caution when clicking links or opening attachments
Hello,
My name is Noah Marty, and I work for State Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel. I am staffing Assembly Bill 2000, which would make it a crime for a person to engage in a motor vehicle speed contest in an off-street parking facility or an exhibition of speed in an off-street parking facility, or to aid or abet therein. With that, I’m reaching out to ask for the city of Beverly Hills’s support on AB 2000.
Last year alone, CHP reported over 25,000 calls involving exhibition of speed and speed contests. Over the past five years, CHP reported a nearly 300% surge in exhibition of speed citations. Last session, AB 3 was passed by the legislature and signed by the governor, which provided an effective tool, licensees suspension, to help deter this concerning rise in exhibitions of speed. AB 2000 seeks to build on those gains by brining legal parity to street racing/side shows that occur off-highways to those that occur on them.
This legislation is especially apt for your city, given these changes are key to improving public safety, and will ensure that we're protecting communities from the threats that exhibitions of speed and speed contests pose to pedestrians and innocent bystanders, along with the fatal consequences that these incidents can have for participants.
The bill is currently referred to the Assembly Transportation Committee and will be heard on April 4th.
Assemblymember Gabriel would love to have your support on AB 2000 so that we can ensure the same tools are available for off-highway incidents as those that occur on highways. Once you’ve had a chance to discuss with your team, I’d be more than happy to provide a template support letter and guidance on how & where to submit the letter. This will ensure that you are formally noted as in support of AB 2000 by the legislature. Thank you for your time and consideration, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have.
Best,
Noah
Noah Marty
Pronouns: he/him/his
Fellow
Office of Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel
1021 O Street, Room 5220
Sacramento, CA 95814
Email: [email protected]
T: T (916) 319-2045
2 https://a45.asmdc.org/
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
You can also click here to sign up for updates from Assemblymember Gabriel Attachment 2
BEVER LY
H ILLS
CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS
455 NORTH REXFORD DRIVE • BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA 90210 George Chavez, City Manager
Assemblymember Laura FriedmanChair, Assembly Transportation Committee 1021 0 Street, Suite 6310
Sacramento, CA 95814Re: AB 2000 (Gabriel) Motor vehicle speed contests and exhibitions ofspeed: offstreet parkingfacilities -Support Dear Assemblyrnember Friedman,On behalf of the City of Beverly Hills, I write to inform you of our SUPPORT position AB 2000, which would make it a crime for a person to engage in a motor vehicle speed contest in an off-street parking facility or an exhibition of speed in an off-street parking facility, or to aid or abet therein. Last year, the legislature passed AB 3, which sought to combat the alarming rise in street racing in California. AB 2000 seeks toexpand on the parity achieved in AB 3 and prohibits the exhibition of motor vehicle speed in a parking lot, if the violation occurred as part of a sideshow.
Last year alone, CHP reported over 25,000 calls involving exhibition of speed and speed contests. Over thepast five years, CHP reported a nearly 300 percent surge in exhibition of speed citations. However, not all exhibition ofspeed cases end in just citations. According to CHP, 47 percent ofthese crashes result in injury, 42 percent result in property damage, and 11 percent result in death.
According to the Los Angeles Times in 2019, there have been 179 deaths in Los Angeles County where illegal speed contests were suspected as the cause of the accident since 2009. The deadliest year on record was 2007, with 18 fatal crashes. From January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017, there were a total of 38 fatalitieswhere illegal speed contests were implicated in the cause of death. Overall, 47 percent of fatalities are thesuspected racer, 27 percent are the passenger, 14 percent are an uninvolved motorist, 6 percent arepedestrians, and 5 percent are spectators.
In 2019, the City of Beverly Hills analyzed how incidents of reckless driving and sideshow incidentsinvolving vehicles could be reduced. Due to state law, the City was only able to adopt an ordinance penalizing spectators at illegal speed contests and sideshow incidents. Even with the adoption of this ordinance, our City still experiences several reckless driving incidents a year, placing our community members at great risk.
Statewide law enforcement groups have identified driver’s license suspensions as an effective tool fordeterrence for illegal street racing activity. In 2019, California courts ordered 349 driver’s license suspensions for speed contests. Of those cases, the recidivism rates dropped by 99 percent. AB 2000 buildson this knowledge by allowing courts to issue license suspensions upon conviction of exhibition of speed ina parking lot, if the violation was a part of a sideshow.
As illegal street racing and sideshows become more prevalent problems statewide, AB 2000 provides courtswith a critical and proven tool to deter individuals from engaging in sideshows.
For these reasons, the City of Beverly Hills is pleased to SUPPORT AB 2000.
Sincerely,
George Chavez, City ManagerCity of Beverly Hills
cc: The Honorable Ben Allen, Senator, 26th District
The Honorable Richard Bloom, Assemblyrnember, 50h DistrictThe Honorable Jesse Gabriel, 45Ih District Andrew K. Antwih, Shaw Yoder Antwih Schmelzer & Lange
Attachment 3
california legislature—2021–22 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 2000
Introduced by Assembly Members Gabriel and Fong
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Friedman and Nazarian)
February 14, 2022
An act to amend Section 23109 of the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.
legislative counsel’s digest
AB 2000, as introduced, Gabriel. Motor vehicle speed contests and exhibitions of speed: offstreet parking facilities.
Existing law makes it a crime for a person to engage in a motor vehicle speed contest on a highway or an exhibition of speed on a highway, or to aid or abet therein.
This bill would also make it a crime for a person to engage in a motor vehicle speed contest in an offstreet parking facility or an exhibition of speed in an offstreet parking facility, or to aid or abet therein. By expanding the definition of an existing crime, the bill 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.
99 The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 23109 of the Vehicle Code is amended line 2 to read:
line 3 23109. (a) A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle speed line 4 contest on a highway. highway or in an offstreet parking facility. line 5 As used in this section, a motor vehicle speed contest includes a line 6 motor vehicle race against another vehicle, a clock, or other timing line 7 device. For purposes of this section, an event in which the time to line 8 cover a prescribed route of more than 20 miles is measured, but line 9 in which the vehicle does not exceed the speed limits, is not a line 10 speed contest.
line 11 (b) A person shall not aid or abet in any motor vehicle speed line 12 contest on any highway. a highway or in an offstreet parking line 13 facility.
line 14 (c) A person shall not engage in a motor vehicle exhibition of line 15 speed on a highway, highway or in an offstreet parking facility, line 16 and a person shall not aid or abet in a motor vehicle exhibition of line 17 speed on any highway. highway or in an offstreet parking facility. line 18 (d) A person shall not, for the purpose of facilitating or aiding line 19 or as an incident to any motor vehicle speed contest or exhibition line 20 upon a highway, highway or in an offstreet parking facility, in any line 21 manner obstruct or place a barricade or obstruction or assist or line 22 participate in placing a barricade or obstruction upon any highway. line 23 a highway or in an offstreet parking facility.
line 24 (e) (1) A person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) shall line 25 be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 24 line 26 hours nor more than 90 days or by a fine of not less than three line 27 hundred fifty-five dollars ($355) nor more than one thousand line 28 dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. That line 29 person shall also be required to perform 40 hours of community line 30 service. The court may order the privilege to operate a motor line 31 vehicle suspended for 90 days to six months, as provided in line 32 paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352. The person’s line 33 privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for 90 days line 34 to six months to necessary travel to and from that person’s place line 35 of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to line 36 perform the duties of the person’s employment, restricted to driving line 37 in that person’s scope of employment. This subdivision does not 99 AB 2000 — 2 —
line 1 interfere with the court’s power to grant probation in a suitable line 2 case.
line 3 (2) If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and line 4 that violation proximately causes bodily injury to a person other line 5 than the driver, the person convicted shall be punished by line 6 imprisonment in a county jail for not less than 30 days nor more line 7 than six months or by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars line 8 ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both line 9 that fine and imprisonment.
line 10 (f) (1) If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) line 11 for an offense that occurred within five years of the date of a prior line 12 offense that resulted in a conviction of a violation of subdivision line 13 (a), that person shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail line 14 for not less than four days nor more than six months, and by a fine line 15 of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one line 16 thousand dollars ($1,000).
line 17 (2) If the perpetration of the most recent offense within the line 18 five-year period described in paragraph (1) proximately causes line 19 bodily injury to a person other than the driver, a person convicted line 20 of that second violation shall be imprisoned in a county jail for line 21 not less than 30 days nor more than six months and by a fine of line 22 not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one line 23 thousand dollars ($1,000).
line 24 (3) If the perpetration of the most recent offense within the line 25 five-year period described in paragraph (1) proximately causes line 26 serious bodily injury, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision line 27 (f) of Section 243 of the Penal Code, to a person other than the line 28 driver, a person convicted of that second violation shall be line 29 imprisoned in the state prison, or in a county jail for not less than line 30 30 days nor more than one year, and by a fine of not less than five line 31 hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars line 32 ($1,000).
line 33 (4) The court shall order the privilege to operate a motor vehicle line 34 of a person convicted under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) suspended line 35 for a period of six months, as provided in paragraph (9) of line 36 subdivision (a) of Section 13352. In lieu of the suspension, the line 37 person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be restricted for line 38 six months to necessary travel to and from that person’s place of line 39 employment and, if driving a motor vehicle is necessary to perform 99 — 3 — AB 2000
line 1 the duties of the person’s employment, restricted to driving in that line 2 person’s scope of employment.
line 3 (5) This subdivision does not interfere with the court’s power line 4 to grant probation in a suitable case.
line 5 (g) If the court grants probation to a person subject to line 6 punishment under subdivision (f), in addition to subdivision (f) line 7 and any other terms and conditions imposed by the court, which line 8 may include a fine, the court shall impose as a condition of line 9 probation that the person be confined in a county jail for not less line 10 than 48 hours nor more than six months. The court shall order the line 11 person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle to be suspended for line 12 a period of six months, as provided in paragraph (9) of subdivision line 13 (a) of Section 13352 or restricted pursuant to subdivision (f). line 14 (h) If a person is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) and line 15 the vehicle used in the violation is registered to that person, the line 16 vehicle may be impounded at the registered owner’s expense for line 17 not less than one day nor more than 30 days.
line 18 (i) (1) A person who violates subdivision (b), (c), or (d) shall line 19 upon conviction of that violation be punished by imprisonment in line 20 a county jail for not more than 90 days, by a fine of not more than line 21 five hundred dollars ($500), or by both that fine and imprisonment. line 22 (2) (A) Commencing July 1, 2025, the court may order the line 23 privilege to operate a motor vehicle suspended for 90 days to six line 24 months for a person who violates subdivision (c), as provided in line 25 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section line 26 13352, only if the violation occurred as part of a sideshow. For line 27 purposes of this section, “sideshow” is defined as an event in which line 28 two or more persons block or impede traffic on a highway, highway line 29 or in an offstreet parking facility, for the purpose of performing line 30 motor vehicle stunts, motor vehicle speed contests, motor vehicle line 31 exhibitions of speed, or reckless driving, for spectators. line 32 (B) The person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle may be line 33 restricted for 90 days to six months to necessary travel to and from line 34 that person’s place of employment and, if driving a motor vehicle line 35 is necessary to perform the duties of the person’s employment, line 36 restricted to driving in that person’s scope of employment. line 37 (C) If the court is considering suspending or restricting the line 38 privilege to operate a motor vehicle pursuant to this paragraph, line 39 the court shall also consider whether a medical, personal, or family line 40 hardship exists that requires a person to have a driver’s license for 99 AB 2000 — 4 —
line 1 such limited purpose as the court deems necessary to address the line 2 hardship. This subdivision does not interfere with the court’s power line 3 to grant probation in a suitable case.
line 4 (j) If a person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle is restricted line 5 by a court pursuant to this section, the court shall clearly mark the line 6 restriction and the dates of the restriction on that person’s driver’s line 7 license and promptly notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of line 8 the terms of the restriction in a manner prescribed by the line 9 department. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall place that line 10 restriction in the person’s records in the Department of Motor line 11 Vehicles and enter the restriction on a license subsequently issued line 12 by the Department of Motor Vehicles to that person during the line 13 period of the restriction.
line 14 (k) The court may order that a person convicted under this line 15 section, who is to be punished by imprisonment in a county jail, line 16 be imprisoned on days other than days of regular employment of line 17 the person, as determined by the court.
line 18 (l) For purposes of this section, “offstreet parking facility” shall line 19 have the same meaning as in subdivision (c) of Section 12500. line 20 (l)
line 21 (m) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Louis line 22 Friend Memorial Act.
line 23 SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to line 24 Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because line 25 the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school line 26 district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or line 27 infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty line 28 for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of line 29 the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within line 30 the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California line 31 Constitution.
O
99 — 5 — AB 2000