Vehicles: length limitations: motorsports.

Existing law generally prohibits a vehicle from exceeding a length of 40 feet, and a combination of vehicles from exceeding a total length of 65 feet, with various specific exceptions. Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation or local authorities, with regard to highways under their respective jurisdiction, to issue a special permit authorizing the operation of a combination of vehicles consisting of a truck tractor semitrailer combination with a maximum length from kingpin to rearmost axle measurement of not more than 46 feet, if the trailers are used exclusively or primarily in connection with motorsports, as defined. This bill would instead exempt, until January 1, 2016, a combination of vehicles consisting of a truck tractor semitrailer combination with a kingpin to rearmost axle measurement limit of not more than 46 feet, a trailer length of not more than 56 feet, and used exclusively or primarily in connection with motorsports, as defined, to operate on the National Network, transition routes, as well as on any other routes authorized for that purpose by the Department of Transportation in consultation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol. The bill would require the Department of Transportation to conduct a field test of the truck tractor semitrailer combination authorized under the bill for motorsport trucks with a trailer length of 56 feet to evaluate their performance on various segments of the National Network and transition routes. The bill would also require the Department of Transportation, no later than January 1, 2014, to submit a report to the Legislature that includes the results of the field test and a recommendation, in consultation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol, as to whether the 56 foot trailer length should be reauthorized.