Bill Text: CA AB43 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Traffic safety.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 690, Statutes of 2021. [AB43 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB43-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Senate
July 06, 2021 |
Amended
IN
Senate
June 25, 2021 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 22, 2021 |
Introduced by Assembly Members Friedman, Gipson, Ting, Chiu, and Quirk (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Boerner Horvath) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Gabriel, Medina, Nazarian, Ward, and Wicks) |
December 07, 2020 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
This bill would require local authorities to consider other factors, including pedestrian and bicycle safety, that are allowed but not required to be considered under existing law. The bill would also allow local authorities to consider additional factors, including the current or immediately prior speed limit, as specified.
(7)By creating new duties for local authorities relating to traffic and engineering surveys, this bill would impose a state mandate.
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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 627 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:627.
(a) “Engineering and traffic survey,” as used in this code, means a survey of highway and traffic conditions in accordance with methods determined by the Department of Transportation for use by state and local authorities.(d)When conducting an engineering and traffic survey, a local authority may also consider
both of the following:
(1)The current or immediately prior speed limit for a section of highway, as established by a previous engineering and traffic survey, if a registered engineer has evaluated the section of highway and determined that no significant design changes, with the specific intent of increasing the safe operating speed, have been made to the roadway since completion of the traffic survey that established the speed limit.
(2)Whether the section of highway has been designated by the local authority as experiencing a high concentration of fatalities and serious injuries based on recent data.
SEC. 2.
Section 21400 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:21400.
(a) The Department of Transportation shall, after consultation with local agencies and public hearings, adopt rules and regulations prescribing uniform standards and specifications for all official traffic control devices placed pursuant to this code, including, but not limited to, stop signs, yield right-of-way signs, speed restriction signs, railroad warning approach signs, street name signs, lines and markings on the roadway, and stock crossing signs placed pursuant to Section 21364.SEC. 3.
Section 22352 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:22352.
The prima facie limits are as follows and shall be applicable unless changed as authorized in this code and, if so changed, only when signs have been erected giving notice thereof:SEC. 4.
Section 22354 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:22354.
(a) Whenever the Department of Transportation determines upon the basis of an engineering and traffic survey that the limit of 65 miles per hour is more than is reasonable or safe upon any portion of a state highway where the limit of 65 miles is applicable, the department may determine and declare a prima facie speed limit of 60, 55, 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, or 15 miles per hour, whichever is found most appropriate to facilitate the orderly movement of traffic and is reasonable and safe, which declared prima facie speed limit shall be effective when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected upon the highway.SEC. 5.
Section 22358 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:22358.
(a) Whenever a local authority determines upon the basis of an engineering and traffic survey that the limit of 65 miles per hour is more than is reasonable or safe upon any portion of any street other than a state highway where the limit of 65 miles per hour is applicable, the local authority may by ordinance determine and declare a prima facie speed limit of 60, 55, 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, or 15 miles per hour, whichever is found most appropriate to facilitate the orderly movement of traffic and is reasonable and safe, which declared prima facie limit shall be effective when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected upon the street.SEC. 6.
Section 22358.4 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:22358.4.
(a) (1) Whenever a local authority determines upon the basis of an engineering and traffic survey that the prima facie speed limit of 25 miles per hour established by subdivision (b) of Section 22352 is more than is reasonable or safe, the local authority may, by ordinance or resolution, determine and declare a prima facie speed limit of 20 or 15 miles per hour, whichever is justified as the appropriate speed limit by that survey.SEC. 7.
Section 22358.6 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:22358.6.
The Department of Transportation shall, in the next scheduled revision, revise and thereafter maintain the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices to require the Department of Transportation or a local authority to round speed limits to the nearest five miles per hour of the 85th percentile of the free-flowing traffic. However, in cases in which the speed limit needs to be rounded up to the nearest five miles per hour increment of the 85th-percentile speed, the Department of Transportation or a local authority may decide to instead round down the speed limit to the lower five miles per hour increment. A local authority may additionally lower the speed limit as provided in Sections 22358.7 and 22358.8.SEC. 8.
Section 22358.7 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:22358.7.
(a) If a local authority, after completing an engineering and traffic survey, finds that the speed limit is still more than is reasonable or safe, the local authority may, by ordinance, determine and declare a prima facie speed limit that has been reduced an additional five miles per hour for either of the following reasons:(b)As used in this section, “high-injury” street means a portion of highway that, based on at least the immediately preceding three years of traffic accident data, is identified and has been adopted by the local authority as experiencing a high concentration of traffic-related serious injuries and fatalities.
SEC. 9.
Section 22358.8 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:22358.8.
If a local authority, after completing an engineering and traffic survey, finds that the speed limit is still more than is reasonable or safe, the local authority may, by ordinance, retain the current speed limit or restore the immediately prior speed limit if that speed limit was established with an engineering and traffic survey and if a registered engineer has evaluated the section of highway and determined that no significant design changes, with the specific intent of increasing the safe operating speed, have been made to the roadway since completion of the traffic survey that established the prior speed limit.SEC. 10.
Section 22358.9 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:22358.9.
(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, a local authority may, by ordinance, determine and declare a 25 or 20 miles per hour prima facie speed limit on a highway contiguous to a business activity district when posted with a sign that indicates a speed limit of 25 or 20 miles per hour.SEC. 11.
Section 22359 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:22359.
With respect to boundary line streets and highways where portions thereof are within different jurisdictions, an ordinance adopted under Sections 22357 and 22358 shall not be effective as to any portion until all authorities having jurisdiction of the portions of the street concerned have approved the same. This section shall not apply in the case of boundary line streets consisting of separate roadways within different jurisdictions.SEC. 12.
Section 40802 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:40802.
(a) A “speed trap” is either of the following:If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.