Pubdate: Mon, 29 Dec 2003

Source: Sacramento Observer (CA)

Website: http://www.sacobserver.com/

Author: James Lanaras

  

California drivers face new vehicle laws that take effect on Jan. 1.

 

The fine for seat belt violations will double to a maximum of $41. It increases to a maximum of $106 for a second offense, depending on the county, the California Highway Patrol said. The figures include court costs.

 

Parents face misdemeanor charges if they knowingly supply alcohol to anyone under age 21 who then drives and causes a traffic collision.

 

Drivers under age 17-and-a-half will have to complete a driver education course before they can get an instruction permit. Currently a 15-year-old may get a permit if he or she is already enrolled in an instruction course. Drivers under age 18 must still have a licensed adult driver present in their vehicle for the first six months on their provisional driver's license.

 

Video screens have become a popular accessory in vehicle models during the past few years. It is already illegal to drive a vehicle while viewing a television broadcast on a screen forward of the driver's seat. The new law closes a loophole in the law by prohibiting drivers from watching DVDs while driving, even if drivers are watching old episodes of CHiPs or COPS.

 

CHP public information officer Anne Da Vigo said there were 68 citations statewide for watching a forward television screen while driving and 595 citations in 2001.

 

Many motorists are installing the screens on the dashboard and above the rear-view mirror, Da Vigo said. Many vehicle models now include video screens behind the driver.

 

Attention teachers: law enforcement officers on Jan. 1 will be required to notify public and private schools when teachers are arrested on suspicion of certain drug and sex crimes.

 

The bill, AB 608, was introduced after the April 2003 arrest of a Buena Park teacher who was observed driving 100 mph and subsequently seen throwing a bag of marijuana out the window during a police pursuit. The CHP said the teacher had been arrested on similar charges in 2001 but school officials didn't know it.

 

And vendors who sell cameras to cities and counties to catch red light runners will no longer be paid on a per-ticket basis. Cities and counties must assure that only red light citations reviewed and approved by law enforcement are mailed to violators by vendors.

 

New laws requiring children in safety seats to ride in the rear seat of a vehicle take effect on Jan. 1, 2005. The CHP wants to educate drivers about the law and its exemptions before it takes effect.