Bill Text: CA SB1175 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Vehicles: length limitations: motorsports.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 786, Statutes of 2014. [SB1175 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB1175-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1175 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 786
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 26, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 25, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 12, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 29, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senator Walters
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
An act to amend Section 35401.5 of the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1175, Walters. Vehicles: length limitations: motorsports.
Existing law generally prohibits a vehicle from exceeding a length
of 40 feet, and a combination of vehicles from exceeding a total
length of 65 feet, with various specific exceptions. Existing law,
until January 1, 2016, exempts from these provisions a combination of
vehicles consisting of a truck tractor semitrailer combination with
a kingpin to rearmost axle measurement limit of not more than 46
feet, a trailer length of not more than 56 feet, and used exclusively
or primarily in connection with motorsports, as defined.
This bill would extend the operation of that exemption
indefinitely. In order to comply with the terms of that exemption,
the bill would require a permit issued by the Department of
Transportation for the operation of that combination of vehicles on a
specific route. The bill would require the Department of
Transportation to conduct field tests of the truck tractor
semitrailer combination for motorsport trucks with a trailer length
of 56 feet to evaluate their performance on transition routes
connecting to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. The bill would
require a permit to operate the above-described combination of
vehicles on a specific route for a motorsport event, as specified.
The bill would provide that the permit requirement for routes to or
from the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the Sonoma Raceway, and the
Auto Club Speedway at Fontana would only apply until field tests by
the Department of Transportation determine that no additional
projects need to be performed on that particular route for the
respective raceway, or, if projects are required to be performed on
the route, until those projects are completed. The bill would require
the department to update the transition routes to reflect road
projects completed since the 1990s and to update the transition
routes every 5 years thereafter. The bill would require the
department to develop new transition routes, as necessary, for the
truck tractor semitrailer combination for motorsport trucks with a
trailer length of 56 feet. The bill would require, no later than
January 1, 2017, the department to submit a report to the Legislature
that includes the results of the field tests for the Auto Club
Raceway in Pomona, the Sonoma Raceway, and the Auto Club Speedway in
Fontana, an overview of the related roadway improvements identified
and made, and, in consultation with the Department of the California
Highway Patrol, a recommendation as to whether the 56 foot trailer
length should be reauthorized. The bill would also make technical,
nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 35401.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
35401.5. (a) A combination of vehicles consisting of a truck
tractor and semitrailer, or of a truck tractor, semitrailer, and
trailer, is not subject to the limitations of Sections 35400 and
35401, when operating on the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of
Interstate and Defense Highways or when using those portions of
federal-aid primary system highways that have been qualified by the
United States Secretary of Transportation for that use, or when using
routes appropriately identified by the Department of Transportation
or local authorities as provided in subdivision (c) or (d), if all of
the following conditions are met:
(1) The length of the semitrailer in exclusive combination with a
truck tractor does not exceed 48 feet. A semitrailer not more than 53
feet in length shall satisfy this requirement when configured with
two or more rear axles, the rearmost of which is located 40 feet or
less from the kingpin or when configured with a single axle which is
located 38 feet or less from the kingpin. For purposes of this
paragraph, a motortruck used in combination with a semitrailer, when
that combination of vehicles is engaged solely in the transportation
of motor vehicles, camper units, or boats, is considered to be a
truck tractor.
(2) Neither the length of the semitrailer nor the length of the
trailer when simultaneously in combination with a truck tractor
exceeds 28 feet 6 inches.
(b) Subdivisions (b), (d), and (e) of Section 35402 do not apply
to combinations of vehicles operated subject to the exemptions
provided by this section.
(c) Combinations of vehicles operated pursuant to subdivision (a)
may also use highways not specified in subdivision (a) that provide
reasonable access to terminals and facilities for purposes limited to
fuel, food, lodging, and repair when that access is consistent with
the safe operation of the combinations of vehicles and when the
facility is within one road mile of identified points of ingress and
egress to or from highways specified in subdivision (a) for use by
those combinations of vehicles.
(d) The Department of Transportation or local authorities may
establish a process whereby access to terminals or services may be
applied for upon a route not previously established as an access
route. The denial of a request for access to terminals and services
shall be only on the basis of safety and an engineering analysis of
the proposed access route. If a written request for access has been
properly submitted and has not been acted upon within 90 days of
receipt by the department or the appropriate local agency, the access
shall be deemed automatically approved. Thereafter, the route shall
be deemed open for access by all other vehicles of the same type
regardless of ownership. In lieu of processing an access application,
the Department of Transportation or local authorities with respect
to highways under their respective jurisdictions may provide signing,
mapping, or a listing of highways as necessary to indicate the use
of specific routes as terminal access routes. For purposes of this
subdivision, "terminal" means either of the following:
(1) A facility where freight originates, terminates, or is handled
in the transportation process.
(2) A facility where a motor carrier maintains operating
facilities.
(e) Nothing in subdivision (c) or (d) authorizes state or local
agencies to require permits of terminal operators or to charge
terminal operators fees for the purpose of attaining access for
vehicles described in this section.
(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (d), the limitations of access
specified in that subdivision do not apply to licensed carriers of
household goods when directly en route to or from a point of loading
or unloading of household goods, if travel on highways other than
those specified in subdivision (a) is necessary and incidental to the
shipment of the household goods.
(g) (1) Notwithstanding Sections 35400 and 35401, a combination of
vehicles consisting solely of a truck tractor semitrailer
combination with a kingpin to rearmost axle measurement limit of not
more than 46 feet, a trailer length of not more than 56 feet, and
used exclusively or primarily in connection with motorsports, may
operate on the routes identified in subdivision (a) as well as on any
other routes authorized for that purpose by the Department of
Transportation in consultation with the Department of the California
Highway Patrol, when issued a permit as set forth in paragraph (3).
As used in this subdivision, "motorsports" means an event, and all
activities leading up to that event, including, but not limited to,
administration, testing, practice, promotion, and merchandising, that
is sanctioned under the auspices of the member organizations of the
Automobile Competition Committee for the United States.
(2) (A) The Department of Transportation shall conduct field tests
of the truck tractor semitrailer combination authorized under
paragraph (1) for motorsport trucks with a trailer length of not more
than 56 feet to evaluate their performance on transition routes
connecting to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.
(B) (i) The Legislature finds and declares that the Department of
Transportation established the existing transition routes described
in subparagraph (A) based on records from the 1990s.
(ii) The Department of Transportation shall update the transition
routes to reflect road projects completed since the 1990s and shall
update the transition routes every five years thereafter.
(iii) The Department of Transportation shall develop new
transition routes, as necessary, for the truck tractor semitrailer
combination authorized under paragraph (1) for motorsport trucks with
a trailer length of not more than 56 feet.
(C) The Department of Transportation shall, no later than January
1, 2017, submit a report to the Legislature, in compliance with
Section 9795 of the Government Code, that includes the results of the
field tests for the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, the Sonoma Raceway,
and the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, an overview of the related
roadway improvements identified and made, and, in consultation with
the Department of the California Highway Patrol, a recommendation as
to whether the maximum 56 foot trailer length should be reauthorized.
(D) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the
requirement for submitting a report under this paragraph is
inoperative on January 1, 2019.
(3) Permits for a combination of vehicles consisting solely of a
truck tractor semitrailer combination with a kingpin to rearmost axle
measurement limit of not more than 46 feet, a trailer length of not
more than 56 feet, for use exclusively or primarily in connection
with motorsports, to operate on the routes identified in subdivision
(a) as well as on any other routes authorized for that purpose, as
provided in paragraph (1), shall be issued by the Department of
Transportation, pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 35780)
of Chapter 5. The permit requirement for travel on a specific route
to or from the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, the Sonoma Raceway, or
the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, shall apply only until field tests
for each of those raceways by the Department of Transportation
determine that no additional projects need to be performed on the
specific route, or, if projects are required to be performed on the
specific route, until those projects are completed.
(h) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
(1) In authorizing the use of 53-foot semitrailers, it is the
intent of the Legislature to conform with Section 31111(b)(1)(C) of
Title 49 of the United States Code by permitting the continued use of
semitrailers of the dimensions as those that were in actual and
legal use on December 1, 1982, and does not intend this action to be
a precedent for future increases in the parameters of any of those
vehicles that would adversely affect the turning maneuverability of
vehicle combinations.
(2) In authorizing the department to issue special transportation
permits for motorsports, it is the intent of the Legislature to
conform with Section 31111(b)(1)(F) of Title 49 of the United States
Code. It is also the intent of the Legislature that this action not
be a precedent for future increases in the distance from the kingpin
to the rearmost axle of semitrailers and trailers that would
adversely affect the turning maneuverability of vehicle combinations.
