AB 516

Under current law, the Department of Transportation (DOT) issues commercial

driver licenses (CDLs) authorizing the licensee to operate commercial motor vehicles

(CMVs). CMVs are generally defined as motor vehicles that are designed or used to

transport property or passengers and weigh more than 26,000 pounds, that

transport 15 or more passengers plus the driver, or that transport hazardous

materials. A person is disqualified from operating a CMV for a 60-day period upon

a second conviction, or for a 120-day period upon a third conviction, of a serious

traffic violation within a three-year period if the violation is committed while the

person is operating a CMV or if the person holds a CDL and commits the violation

while operating a non-CMV vehicle. A "serious traffic violation" is defined to include

various offenses committed: 1) while operating a CMV; or 2) while operating a

non-CMV vehicle if the person has ever held a CDL, has ever operated a CMV on a

highway, or has ever been convicted of a violation related to, or been disqualified

from, operating a CMV.

Under this bill, the definition of "serious traffic violation" identified in item 2),

above, applies only if the offense results in the revocation, cancellation, or

suspension of the person's operating privilege.

Under current law, if an authorized emergency vehicle, tow truck, or road

maintenance vehicle is stopped on or within 12 feet of the paved portion of a highway

and is giving a proper visual signal, an approaching motorist must move his or her

vehicle into a lane not nearest the stopped vehicle and travel in that lane until he or

she passes the stopped vehicle. If the roadway has only one lane for traffic traveling

in the same direction as the approaching motorist or if the motorist cannot change

lanes safely or without interfering with other traffic, the motorist must slow his or

her vehicle until he or she has passed the stopped vehicle. This statute is commonly

referred to as the "Move Over Law."

This bill classifies a violation of the "Move Over Law" as a serious traffic

violation for purposes of disqualification from operating a CMV.