Bill Text: CA AB520 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Vehicles: reckless driving: suspension of licenses.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Passed) 2011-10-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 657, Statutes of 2011. [AB520 Detail]

Download: California-2011-AB520-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 520	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 28, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 31, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ammiano

                        FEBRUARY 15, 2011

    An act to amend Section 1170 of the Penal Code, relating
to sentencing.   An act to amend Section 13353.3 of the
Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 520, as amended, Ammiano.  Sentencing.  
Vehicles: reckless driving: suspension of licenses.  
   Existing law requires a person's driving privilege to be suspended
upon conviction of specified driving-under-the-influence (DUI)
offenses for one year. Existing law terminates the licensing
suspension if certain conditions are met, including if the person is
eligible to apply for a restricted license. Under existing law, a
person who drives a vehicle upon a highway in willful or wanton
disregard for the safety of a person or property is guilty of
reckless driving. Existing law provides that, when a person is
charged with, and pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, reckless
driving in satisfaction of, or as a substitute for, an original
charge for a DUI, and the court accepts the plea of guilty or nolo
contendere, the conviction is a prior offense for purposes of
specified laws relating to punishments imposed for DUI convictions.
 
   This bill would terminate a driver's license suspension, and make
the person eligible for a restricted driver's license, for a person
convicted of reckless driving in satisfaction of, or substitute for,
an original charge of driving-under-the-influence, if certain
conditions are met, including that the person complete a 90-day
suspension period and install an ignition interlock device. The bill
would require the department to advise the person of the above
conditions. The bill would require that the restricted driver's
license privilege be subject to certain restrictions, including that
the privilege be limited to the hours necessary for driving from the
person's place of employment.  
   Existing law, operative until January 1, 2012, provides that when
a judgment of imprisonment is to be imposed and the statute specifies
3 possible terms, the choice of the appropriate term shall rest
within the sound discretion of the court. Existing law, operative
January 1, 2012, provides that the court shall order imposition of
the middle term, unless there are circumstances in aggravation or
mitigation of the crime.  
   This bill would extend the operative date of the current provision
allowing the choice of the appropriate term to rest within the sound
discretion of the court until January 1, 2013.  
   This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 1170 of
the Penal Code, proposed by A.B. 109, operative only if certain
conditions are met. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 13353.3 of the  
Vehicle Code   is amended to read: 
   13353.3.  (a) An order of suspension of a person's privilege to
operate a motor vehicle pursuant to Section 13353.2 shall become
effective 30 days after the person is served with the notice pursuant
to Section 13382 or 13388, or subdivision (b) of Section 13353.2.
   (b) The period of suspension of a person's privilege to operate a
motor vehicle under Section 13353.2 is as follows:
   (1) If the person has not been convicted of a separate violation
of Section 23103, as specified in Section 23103.5, or Section 23140,
23152, or 23153, or Section 191.5 or subdivision (a) of Section 192.5
of the Penal Code, the person has not been administratively
determined to have refused chemical testing pursuant to Section 13353
or 13353.1, or the person has not been administratively determined
to have been driving with an excessive concentration of alcohol
pursuant to Section 13353.2 on a separate occasion, which offense or
occurrence occurred within 10 years of the occasion in question, the
person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle shall be suspended for
four months.
   (2) (A) If the person has been convicted of one or more separate
violations of Section 23103, as specified in Section 23103.5, or
Section 23140, 23152, or 23153, or Section 191.5 or subdivision (a)
of Section 192.5 of the Penal Code, the person has been
administratively determined to have refused chemical testing pursuant
to Section 13353 or 13353.1, or the person has been administratively
determined to have been driving with an excessive concentration of
alcohol pursuant to Section 13353.2 on a separate occasion, which
offense or occasion occurred within 10 years of the occasion in
question, the person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle shall be
suspended for one year, except as provided in  subparagraph
  subparagraphs  (B)  and (C)  .
   (B) The one-year suspension pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall
terminate if the person has been convicted of a violation arising out
of the same occurrence and all of the following conditions are met:
   (i) The person is eligible for a restricted driver's license
pursuant to Section 13352.
   (ii) The person installs an ignition interlock device as required
in Section 13352 for that restricted driver's license.
   (iii) The person complies with all other applicable conditions of
Section 13352 for a restricted driver's license. 
   (C) The one-year suspension pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall
terminate after completion of a 90-day suspension period, and the
person shall be eligible for a restricted license if the person has
been convicted of a violation of Section 23103, as specified in
Section 23103.5, arising out of the same occurrence and all the
following conditions are met:  
   (i) The person satisfactorily provides, subsequent to the
underlying violation date, proof satisfactory to the department of
enrollment in a nine-month driving-under-the influence program
licensed pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 11836) of
Part 2 of Division 10.5 of the Health and Safety Code that consists
of at least 60 hours of program activities, including education,
group counseling, and individual interview sessions.  
   (ii) The person agrees, as a condition of the restriction, to
continue satisfactory participation in the program described in
clause (i).  
   (iii) The person installs an ignition interlock device and submits
the "Verification of Installation" form described in paragraph (2)
of subdivision (h) of Section 13386.  
   (iv) The person agrees to maintain the ignition interlock device
as required pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 23575.  
   (v) The person provides proof of financial responsibility, as
defined in Section 16430.  
   (vi) The person pays all license fees and any restriction fee
required by the department.  
   (vii) The person pays to the department a fee sufficient to cover
the costs of administration of this paragraph, as determined by the
department.  
   (D) The department shall advise those persons that are eligible
under subparagraph (C) that after completion of 90 days of the
suspension period, the person may apply to the department for a
restricted driver's license, subject to the conditions set forth in
subparagraph (C).  
   (E) The restricted driving privilege shall become effective when
the department receives all of the documents and fees required under
subparagraph (C) and remain in effect for one year. The restricted
driving privilege shall be subject to the following conditions: 

   (i) The restricted driving privilege shall be limited to the hours
necessary for driving to and from the person's place of employment,
driving during the course of employment, and driving to and from
activities required in the driving-under-the-influence program. 

   (ii) If the driving privilege is restricted under this section,
proof of financial responsibility, as described in Section 16430,
shall be maintained for three years. If the person does not maintain
that proof of financial responsibility at any time during the
restriction, the driving privilege shall be suspended until the proof
required pursuant to Section 16484 is received by the department.
 
   (iii) For the purposes of this section, enrollment, participation,
and completion of an approved program shall be subsequent to the
date of the current violation. Credit may not be given to a program
activity completed prior to the date of the current violation. 

   (iv) The department shall terminate the restriction issued
pursuant to this section and shall suspend the privilege to operate a
motor vehicle pursuant to subparagraph (A) immediately upon receipt
of notification from the driving-under-the-influence program that the
person has failed to comply with the program requirements. The
privilege shall remain suspended until the final day of the original
suspension imposed pursuant to subparagraph (A).  
   (v) The holder of a commercial driver's license who was operating
a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in Section 15210, at the time
of a violation that resulted in a suspension or revocation of the
person's noncommercial driving privilege is not eligible for the
restricted driver's license authorized pursuant to this section.
 
   (vi) If, upon conviction, the court makes the determination that a
person convicted of a violation of Section 23103, as specified in
Section 23103.5, would present a traffic safety or public safety risk
if authorized to operate a motor vehicle during the period of
suspension imposed pursuant to subparagraph (A), the court may
disallow the issuance of a restricted license and the department
shall not then issue a restricted license pursuant to this section.

   (3) Notwithstanding any other  provision of  law,
if a person has been administratively determined to have been
driving in violation of Section 23136 or to have refused chemical
testing pursuant to Section 13353.1, the period of suspension shall
not be for less than one year.
   (c) If a person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle is
suspended pursuant to Section 13353.2 and the person is convicted of
a violation of Section 23152 or 23153, including, but not limited to,
a violation described in Section 23620, arising out of the same
occurrence, both the suspension under Section 13353.2 and the
suspension or revocation under Section 13352 shall be imposed, except
that the periods of suspension or revocation shall run concurrently,
and the total period of suspension or revocation shall not exceed
the longer of the two suspension or revocation periods.
   (d) For the purposes of this section, a conviction of an offense
in any state, territory, or possession of the United States, the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the
Dominion of Canada that, if committed in this state, would be a
violation of Section 23103, as specified in Section 23103.5, or
Section 23140, 23152, or 23153, or Section 191.5 or subdivision (a)
of Section 192.5 of the Penal Code, is a conviction of that
particular section of the Vehicle Code or Penal Code. All matter
omitted in this version of the bill appears in the bill as amended in
the Assembly, May 31, 2011. (JR11)