california legislature—2023–24 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 436
Introduced by Assembly Members Alvarez and Luz Rivas Alvarez, Ramos, and Luz Rivas
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alanis, Berman, J uan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Davies, F riedman, Garcia, Lowenthal, McCarty, Stephanie Nguyen, Rodriguez, Wicks, Aguiar-Curry, Kalra, and Pacheco)
February 6, 2023
An act to amend Section 21100 of, and to repeal Section 24008 of, the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.
legislative counsel’s digest
AB 436, as introduced, Alvarez. Vehicles.
Existing law prohibits a local authority from enacting or enforcing an ordinance on matters covered by the Vehicle Code unless expressly authorized by the Vehicle Code. Existing law authorizes local authorities to adopt rules and re gulations by ordinance or resolution re garding specified matters, including, among others, crossing guards, the operation of bic ycles, the remo val of ille gally park ed v ehicles, and cruising, as defined.
This bill would remove the authorization for a local authority to adopt rules and regulations by ordinance or regulation regarding cruising.
Existing law makes it unla wful to operate a passenger v ehicle, or commercial vehicle under 6,000 pounds, that has been modified from its original design so that an y portion of the v ehicle, other than the wheels, has less clearance from the surface of a level roadway than the clearance between the roadway and the lowermost portion of any rim of any wheel in contact with the roadway.
Revised 4-19-23—See last page. 99
This bill would repeal that prohibition.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 21100 of the Vehicle Code is amended line 2 to read:
line 3 21100. Local authorities may adopt rules and re gulations by line 4 ordinance or resolution regarding all of the following matters:
line 5 (a) Regulating or prohibiting processions or assemblages a line 6 procession or assemblage on the highways.
line 7 (b) Licensing and regulating the operation of vehicles for hire line 8 and drivers of passenger vehicles for hire.
line 9 (c) Regulating traffic by means of traffic officers. line 10 (d) Regulating traffic by means of official traffic control devices line 11 meeting the requirements of Section 21400.
line 12 (e) (1) Regulating traffic by means of a person given temporary line 13 or permanent appointment for that duty by the local authority when line 14 official traffic control devices are disabled or otherwise inoperable, line 15 at the scenes of accidents or disasters, scene of an accident or line 16 disaster, or at locations as a location that may require traffic line 17 direction for orderly traffic flow.
line 18 (2) A person shall not be appointed pursuant to this subdivision line 19 unless and until the local authority has submitted to the line 20 commissioner or to the chief la w enforcement officer e xercising line 21 jurisdiction in the enforcement of traffic la ws within the area in line 22 which the person is to perform the duty , for re view, a proposed line 23 program of instruction for the training of a person for that duty, line 24 duty and unless and until the commissioner or other chief la w line 25 enforcement officer appro ves the proposed program. The line 26 commissioner or other chief law enforcement officer shall approve line 27 a proposed program if he or she the y reasonably determines line 28 determine that the program will pro vide sufficient training for line 29 persons assigned to perform the duty described in this subdivision. line 30 (f) Regulating traffic at the site of road or street construction or line 31 maintenance by persons a person authorized for that duty by the line 32 local authority.
line 33 (g) (1) Licensing and re gulating the operation of to w truck line 34 service or tow truck drivers whose principal place of b usiness or 99 — 2 — AB 436
line 1 employment is within the jurisdiction of the local authority , line 2 excepting the operation and operators of any auto dismantlers’ tow line 3 vehicle licensed under Section 11505 or an y tow truck operated line 4 by a repossessing agency licensed under Chapter 11 (commencing line 5 with Section 7500) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions line 6 Code and its registered employees.
line 7 (2) The Le gislature finds that the safety and welf are of the line 8 general public is promoted by permitting local authorities to line 9 regulate tow truck service companies and operators by requiring line 10 licensure, insurance, and proper training in the safe operation of line 11 towing equipment, thereby ensuring against towing mistakes that line 12 may lead to violent confrontation, stranding motorists in dangerous line 13 situations, impeding the expedited vehicle recovery, and wasting line 14 state and local law enforcement’s limited resources. line 15 (3) This subdivision does not limit the authority of a city or city line 16 and county pursuant to Section 12111.
line 17 (h) Operation of bicycles, bicycles and, as specified in Section line 18 21114.5, electric carts by physically disabled persons, or persons line 19 50 years of age or older, on public sidewalks.
line 20 (i) Providing for the appointment of nonstudent school crossing line 21 guards for the protection of persons who are crossing a street or line 22 highway in the vicinity of a school or while returning thereafter line 23 to a place of safety.
line 24 (j) Regulating the methods of deposit of garbage and refuse in line 25 streets and highw ays for collection by the local authority or by line 26 any person authorized by the local authority.
line 27 (k) (1) Regulating cruising.
line 28 (2) The ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to this line 29 subdivision shall regulate cruising, which is the repetitive driving line 30 of a motor v ehicle past a traffic control point in traffic that is line 31 congested at or near the traffic control point, as determined by the line 32 ranking peace officer on duty within the af fected area, within a line 33 specified time period and after the vehicle operator has been given line 34 an adequate written notice that further dri ving past the control line 35 point will be a violation of the ordinance or resolution. line 36 (3) A person is not in violation of an ordinance or resolution line 37 adopted pursuant to this subdivision unless both of the following line 38 apply:
99 AB 436 — 3 —
line 1 (A) That person has been given the written notice on a previous line 2 driving trip past the control point and then again passes the control line 3 point in that same time interval.
line 4 (B) The beginning and end of the portion of the street subject line 5 to cruising controls are clearly identified by signs that briefly and line 6 clearly state the appropriate provisions of this subdivision and the line 7 local ordinance or resolution on cruising.
line 8 (l)
line 9 (k) Regulating or authorizing the removal by peace officers of line 10 vehicles unlawfully parked in a fire lane, as described in Section line 11 22500.1, on pri vate property . A remo val pursuant to this line 12 subdivision shall be consistent, to the e xtent possible, with the line 13 procedures for remo val and storage set forth in Chapter 10 line 14 (commencing with Section 22650).
line 15 (m)
line 16 (l) Regulating mobile billboard advertising displays, as defined line 17 in Section 395.5, including the establishment of penalties, which line 18 may include, but are not limited to, removal of the mobile billboard line 19 advertising display , ci vil penalties, and misdemeanor criminal line 20 penalties, penalties for a violation of the ordinance or resolution. line 21 The ordinance or resolution may establish a minimum distance line 22 that a mobile billboard advertising display shall be moved after a line 23 specified time period.
line 24 (n)
line 25 (m) Licensing and regulating the operation of pedicabs for hire, line 26 as defined in Section 467.5, and operators of pedicabs for hire, line 27 including requiring one or more of the following documents:
line 28 (1) A valid California driver’s license.
line 29 (2) Proof of successful completion of a bicycle safety training line 30 course certified by the League of American Bic yclists or an line 31 equivalent organization as determined by the local authority. line 32 (3) A valid California identification card and proof of successful line 33 completion of the written portion of the California driver’s license line 34 examination administered by the department. The department shall line 35 administer, without char ging a fee, the original dri ver’s license line 36 written examination on traffic la ws and signs to a person who line 37 states that he or she is, or intends they are, or intend to become, a line 38 pedicab operator , oper ator and who holds a v alid California line 39 identification card or has successfully completed an application line 40 for a California identification card. If the person achieves a passing 99 — 4 — AB 436
line 1 score on the examination, the department shall issue a certificate line 2 of successful completion of the examination, examination bearing line 3 the person’s name and identification card number. The certificate line 4 shall not serv e in lieu of successful completion of the required line 5 examination administered as part of an y subsequent application line 6 for a driver’s license. The department is not required to enter the line 7 results of the e xamination into the computerized record of the line 8 person’s identification card or otherwise retain a record of the line 9 examination or results.
line 10 (o)
line 11 (n) (1) This section does not authorize a local authority to enact line 12 or enforce an ordinance or resolution that establishes a violation line 13 if a violation for the same or similar conduct is pro vided in this line 14 code, nor does it authorize a local authority to enact or enforce an line 15 ordinance or resolution that assesses a fine, penalty , assessment, line 16 or fee for a violation if a fine, penalty , assessment, or fee for a line 17 violation involving the same or similar conduct is provided in this line 18 code.
line 19 (2) This section does not preclude a local authority from enacting line 20 parking ordinances pursuant to e xisting authority in Chapter 9 line 21 (commencing with Section 22500) of Division 11. line 22 (p)
line 23 (o) (1) Regulating advertising signs on motor vehicles parked line 24 or left standing upon a public street. The ordinance or resolution line 25 may establish a minimum distance that the adv ertising sign shall line 26 be moved after a specified time period.
line 27 (2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to any of the following:
line 28 (A) Advertising signs that are permanently affixed to the body line 29 of, an integral part of, or a fixture of a motor vehicle for permanent line 30 decoration, identification, or display and that do not extend beyond line 31 the overall length, width, or height of the vehicle. line 32 (B) If the license plate frame is installed in compliance with line 33 Section 5201, paper advertisements issued by a dealer contained line 34 within that license plate frame or any advertisements on that license line 35 plate frame.
line 36 (3) As used in paragraph (2), “permanently affixed” means any line 37 of the following:
line 38 (A) Painted directly on the body of a motor vehicle. line 39 (B) Applied as a decal on the body of a motor vehicle. 99 AB 436 — 5 —
line 1 (C) Placed in a location on the body of a motor vehicle that was line 2 specifically designed by a vehicle manufacturer manufacturer, as line 3 defined in Section 672 672, and licensed pursuant to Section 11701, line 4 in compliance with both state and federal la w or guidelines, for line 5 the express purpose of containing an advertising sign. line 6 SEC. 2. Section 24008 of the Vehicle Code is repealed. line 7 24008. It is unla wful to operate an y passenger v ehicle, or line 8 commercial vehicle under 6,000 pounds, which has been modified line 9 from the original design so that an y portion of the v ehicle, other line 10 than the wheels, has less clearance from the surf ace of a le vel line 11 roadway than the clearance between the roadway and the lowermost line 12 portion of any rim of any wheel in contact with the roadway. line 13
line 14
REVISIONS: line 15
Heading—Line 5. line 16
line 17
O
99 — 6 — AB 436