OFF THE WIRE
Catherine Bowen
thereporter.com
Another year means another army of laws added to the books for local police to enforce today as California rings in 2012.
As usual, many of the laws involve vehicle rules and regulations. For those excited about the prospect of a child turning 6 and finally being able to lose their cumbersome booster seat, hold your horses. A change to California's Child Passenger Safety Seat law now requires children to ride in either a car seat or booster seat until the age of 8, or until they're 4 feet 9 inches tall. The same law also requires children who do not meet the age or height requirement to ride in the back seat unless the vehicle has no back seat, if the restraint system cannot be properly installed, or the back seat is already occupied by children under 8.
For those who enjoy cruising around in electric vehicles, they must now be plugged in for refueling in order to occupy an EV-designated parking space -- or risk being towed. The same goes for any vehicle blocking access to EV-designated parking spaces.
Motorists can also expect changes to the markings in carpool lanes, with more white double-parallel lines that are not to be crossed to get in and out of carpool lanes unless yielding to emergency vehicles, as authorities attempt to make statewide legislation more consistent.
And seat belts -- comfort or not, they go over the shoulder and across the chest, not behind. Violators can expect a citation.
"They've done a lot of cleanup on the laws that make them easy for people to understand and law enforcement to enforce," said California Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Hekker.
Assembly Bill 22, which was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in October, is aimed at ending the discrimination faced by many caught in a cycle of poor credit as a result of unemployment, further preventing them from finding a job. Still, there are some exceptions to the law, including positions within the Department of Justice, law enforcement officers and other positions that require the disclosure of the information, as well as managers, named signatories and those with access to trade secrets, $10,000 or more during the workday and those working with information that could be used to commit identity theft.
New language added to the penal code with AB 123 addresses disruptive messages that could potentially threaten the safety of children coming to or leaving school, stemming from a 2003 demonstration outside a Los Angeles County middle school that included graphic anti-abortion photographs.
According to Solano County Sheriff Gary Stanton, 2012 did not appear to impose as many major law as in past years. However, Stanton said, authorities are still in the process of digesting the new changes, many of which simply revolve code changes and the way things are charged.
"As long as it doesn't change the substance of the law, we just adjust to it," he said.
AB 177, signed by Brown in September, increases the circumstances in which a minor's parent or guardian may be ordered to take anti-gang parenting classes where the court finds significant risk factors for gang membership, such as acts of vandalism, drug possession and disorderly conduct.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles also unveiled several new laws going into effect this month, including a motorcycle safety course required for those under 21 before they can apply for a permit. Legislation that allowed certain low-emission vehicles with a single occupant to use high-occupancy vehicle lanes was extended, with the white stickers issued to fully electric and compressed natural gas vehicles remaining valid until Jan. 1, 2015, in addition to creating a third sticker for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which will be valid from Jan. 1 until Jan. 1, 2015.
DUI violators are looking at harsher penalties, with 10-year revocation of their driver license if convicted of a third or subsequent DUI violation, with a possibility of reinstatement after five years if specific conditions are met.
Those convicted of reckless driving will now have the option of applying for a restricted driver license before completing their one-year suspension so long as they meet specific conditions, including the installation of an ignition interlock device in their vehicle.
Another new law exempts firefighters from having to undergo commercial driver license programs in order to operate fire apparatus, and creates a new license endorsement process.
AB 2499 will bring court-approved courses, such as online and home study traffic schools into the DMV Traffic Violator School licensing program, and also implements a number of recommendations included in a DMV study of traffic violator school issues.
Starting in July, local authorities are forbidden for enforcing local ordinances on any matter covered by the California Vehicle Code in an effort to ensure that traffic convictions are recorded by the DMV. Also beginning in July, driver license applicants will be able to defer their decision whether to register as an organ donor until a later time.
Follow Staff Writer Catherine Bowen at Twitter.com/cbowen4.
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