CALIFORNIA: New year greeted with traffic laws that take effect Sunday

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New year greeted with traffic laws that take effect Sunday
By Stephanie Dumm News Messenger Reporter The California Highway Patrol (CHP) and Lincoln Police Department provided a summary of new laws that will most affect California’s motorists.
The CHP is asking that motorists become familiar with the new laws before Sunday.
“The new laws are designed to make California roadways safer for travelers, regardless of their mode of transportation,” CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said.
Motorcycle licenses
The process for obtaining a motorcycle license will change for those under 21.

Lincoln Police Lt. David Ibarra said drivers under 21 have to complete a motorcycle training course before getting an instruction permit to operate a two-wheel motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, motorized scooter, motorized bicycle, moped or bicycle with an attached motor.
According to Ibarra, the permittee must hold the instruction permit for a minimum of six months prior to obtaining a motorcycle license.
New wording was added to the vehicle code that states license plates must be mounted so the letters and numbers are upright and read from left to right, according to Ibarra.
The State Assembly also passed a new law amending the vehicle code, allowing local authorities to adopt rules and regulations by ordinance and regulation to regulate mobile billboard advertising, according to Ibarra.
Ibarra said the new law defines a mobile billboard advertising display as “a wheeled, mobile, non-motorized vehicle that carries, pulls or transports a sign or billboard and is for the primary purpose of advertising.”
The vehicle code was also amended so the displays can be towed if they are left parked or standing in violation of a local ordinance, according to Ibarra.
Law enforcement agencies, as of Saturday, have a new tool to alert the public when an officer is injured, killed or assaulted with a deadly weapon.
According to Ibarra, law enforcement agencies are now allowed to activate a Blue Alert though the CHP’s Emergency Alert System but four conditions must be met before doing so.
The first condition is that a suspect has fled the scene after killing, seriously injuring or assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon, according to Ibarra.
After that, an investigating agency must determine that the suspect “poses an imminent threat to the public or other law enforcement personnel,” Ibarra said.
The law enforcement agency must also have a “detailed description of the suspect’s vehicle or license plate” available for broadcast, according to Ibarra, and the broadcasting of that information “may help avert further harm or accelerate apprehension of the suspect.”
Ibarra said the Blue Alert is similar to the Amber Alert, and the information is released through the media and other channels the Amber Alert uses, such as the Internet and highway signs.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to capture suspects that are involved in the slaying or assaults on officers more rapidly this way,” Ibarra said. “We’re able to put a BOLO (be on the look-out) out to all agencies right now but not to the general public.”
Another new law pertaining to motorcycles will help deter motorcycle theft.
According to CHP Officer David Martinez, it will be a misdemeanor to possess, give or lend items that aid in the theft of motorcycles.
Those items are any device that bypasses the factory-installed ignition of a motorcycle to start the engine without the manufacturer’s key and any motorcycle ignition or part of a motorcycle ignition, “with the intent to unlawfully take or drive, or to facilitate the unlawful taking or driving of a motorcycle without the consent of the owner,” according to Martinez.
It will also be a misdemeanor to possess, give or lend hardware that could be used to steal or drive a motorcycle without the owners consent.
Those tools include bolt cutters, electrical tape, wire cutters, wire strippers or allen wrenches, according to Martinez.