SACRAMENTO,
Calif. – As we head into the new year, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) is
educating the public on traffic safety laws that were passed during this
year’s legislative season and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. The laws
take effect January 1, 2023, unless otherwise noted. Public Employment:
Peace Officers: Citizenship (Senate Bill (SB) 960, Skinner) The law maintains that peace officers,
including peace officer trainees, be legally authorized to work in the United
States consistent with federal law and regulations, however, removes the
requirement that they be citizens or permanent residents of the United
States. Catalytic Converters
(SB 1087, Gonzalez) (Assembly Bill (AB) 1740,
Muratsuchi) These
laws specifically list who can sell catalytic converters to recyclers and
require those recyclers to keep documentation such as the year, make, model,
and copy of the vehicle title from which the catalytic converter was
removed. The purpose of these laws is to help reduce catalytic
converter theft. Vehicular
Manslaughter: Speeding and Reckless Driving (SB 1472, Stern) This
law expands the criteria for “gross negligence” as it relates to the crime of
vehicular manslaughter. Drivers involved in sideshow activity,
exhibition of speed, or speeding over 100 miles per hour which results in a
fatality could now be charged with Vehicular Manslaughter with Gross
Negligence. Motor Vehicle Speed
Contests and Exhibitions of Speed (AB 2000, Gabriel) Parking
lots and off-street parking facilities are now included as locations where it
is a crime to engage in a speed contest, exhibition of speed, or sideshow
activity. Endangered Missing
Advisory: Feather Alert (AB 1314, Ramos) The
new “Feather Alert” allows law enforcement agencies to request the CHP to
initiate an alert when an indigenous person has been kidnapped, abducted, or
reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, and specific
criteria has been met to permit alert activation. Additionally, consistent
with the Department’s existing AMBER, Blue, and Silver Alert programs, this
new “Feather Alert” program encourages the use of radio, television, and
social media to spread the information about the missing indigenous person. Hit-and-Run
Incidents: Yellow Alert (AB 1732, Patterson) This
law authorizes law enforcement agencies to request the CHP to activate a
“Yellow Alert” when a fatal hit-and-run crash has occurred, and specific
criteria has been met to permit alert activation. The law also encourages
local media outlets to disseminate the information contained in a Yellow
Alert. The new law serves to use the public’s assistance to improve the
investigatory ability for law enforcement agencies throughout the state when
working to solve fatal hit-and-run crashes. Online Marketplaces:
Reporting (AB 1700, Maienschein) This
law requires the Attorney General’s Office to create an online reporting
system for users of third-party online marketplaces to report listings of
suspected stolen items. The reported information would be available to
local law enforcement and the CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force to
assist with investigations. Bicycles Omnibus Bill
(AB 1909, Friedman) Much
like the move over or slow down law, this law provides for increased
protections to bicyclists by requiring vehicles passing or overtaking a
bicycle in the same direction, to move over to an adjacent lane of traffic,
if one is available, or slow down and only pass the bicyclist when safe to do
so. The law also permits Class 3 e-bike riders to use approved bicycle
paths and trails, bikeways, and bicycle lanes. The law prohibits local
governments from requiring bicycle registration and allows local authorities
to prohibit any electric bicycle on an equestrian, hiking, or other
recreational trail. Electric Bicycles:
Safety and Training Program (AB 1946, Boerner Horvath) This
requires the CHP to work with other traffic safety stakeholders such as the
California Office of Traffic Safety, to develop statewide safety and training
programs for electric bicycles. This training program, which will
consist of electric bicycle riding safety, emergency maneuver skills, rules
of the road and laws pertaining to electric bicycles, will launch on the
CHP’s website in September 2023. Pedestrians (AB 2147,
Ting) This law
prohibits peace officers from stopping pedestrians for certain
pedestrian-specific violations, such as crossing the road outside of a
crosswalk, unless there is an immediate danger of a crash. The CHP
reminds all road users of the responsibility to travel safely and look out
for one another on the road. The mission of the CHP is to provide the
highest level of Safety, Service, and Security. | 
