Emergency vehicles: payment of tolls: exemptions.

(1) Under existing law, a vehicle that enters into or upon a vehicular crossing immediately becomes liable for tolls and other charges prescribed by the California Transportation Commission. Under existing law, it is unlawful to refuse to pay, or to evade or attempt to evade the payment of, tolls or other charges on any vehicular crossing, as defined, or toll highway. A violation of those provisions is a crime. This bill would, except as specified, exempt authorized emergency vehicles, as defined, from payment of a toll or charge on a vehicular crossing, toll highway, or high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane and any related fines, under specified conditions, including, but not limited to, when the vehicle is being driven while responding to or returning from an urgent or emergency call, engaged in an urgent or emergency response, or engaging in a fire station coverage assignment directly related to an emergency response. The bill would require, upon information and belief of the toll operator that an authorized emergency vehicle is not in compliance with these provisions, the fire chief, police chief, county sheriff, head of the public agency, or his or her designee, upon the written request of the owner or operator of the toll facility, to provide or otherwise make accessible to the toll operator the dispatch records or log books relevant to the time period when the vehicle was in use on the toll highway or vehicular crossing. By imposing new duties on local entities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.