SB 812: Modified limousines and tour buses: standards and inspection.

(1)Existing law, on and after January 1, 2017, requires any person operating a modified limousine that is modified prior to July 1, 2015, to ensure that the vehicle is equipped with one or 2 rear windows that the rear seat passengers or all passengers of the vehicle may open from the inside of the vehicle in case of any fire or other emergency.

This bill would extend the operative date of this requirement to January 1, 2018.

(2)Existing law defines a tour bus to include any bus operated by or for a charter-party carrier of passengers or a passenger stage corporation, with a bus in this respect defined to mean any vehicle designed, used, or maintained for carrying more than 10 persons, including the driver. Existing law provides for the Department of the California Highway Patrol to regulate the safe operation of various classes of vehicles, including tour buses. A violation of various statutes and regulations governing tour buses and operators of tour buses is a crime.

Existing law also requires the department, at least once every 13 months, to inspect every maintenance facility or terminal of any person who at any time operates any bus. Existing law requires that if the bus operation includes more than 100 buses, the inspection shall be without prior notice.

This bill would require the department, if a tour bus has received an unsatisfactory compliance rating, to conduct a followup inspection between 30 and 90 days after the initial inspection during which the unsatisfactory rating was received. The bill would require the department to order a tour bus out of service upon determining during a terminal inspection or at any other time that the condition of a tour bus is such that it has multiple safety violations of a nature that operation of the tour bus could constitute an imminent danger to public safety. The bill would prohibit the tour bus from being operated with passengers until all of the safety violations have been corrected and the department has verified the correction of the safety violations upon a subsequent inspection by the department of the tour bus, which shall occur within five business days of the submission of a reinspection request from the tour bus carrier. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3)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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.