Legislative Quick Hits

California Street Racing: Existing law in California allows law enforcement to arrest and take into custody a person determined to have been engaged in street racing. The law also provides for the removal and seizure of the motor vehicle used in the contest. A vehicle impounded under these provisions is required to be impounded for not more than 30 days. New legislation being considered in the state would require vehicles to be inspected by the state police to determine whether the vehicle has been modified for speed enhancement beyond the manufacturer’s original equipment specifications. The bill would also require that an additional registration fee of $30 be collected for a motor vehicle so seized and that the motor vehicle be designated as speed enhanced on the certificate of registration for that motor vehicle. The SAN is working with the bill’s sponsor to mitigate the inadvertent effects of this bill on law-abiding motorists.

California “Gas Guzzlers”: In an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, legislation has been reintroduced in California to authorize the establishment of a purchase surcharge for some new motor vehicles based on state calculations of carbon emissions. Funds collected under the program would be used in part to fund rebates for vehicles, including hybrid and electric cars. If this effort is successful, the effects on consumers’ ability to purchase the vehicle of choice, not to mention vehicle safety, could be dramatic. The SAN is opposing the bill because it would make popular performance and luxury cars, as well as SUVs, light trucks and minivans, substantially more expensive to own. The measure also will not necessarily curtail greenhouse gas emissions, which depend on a host of other factors, such as total miles traveled.