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, until January 1, 2016, exempts from these provisions 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. This bill would extend the operation of that exemption indefinitely. In order to comply with the terms of that exemption, the bill would require a permit issued by the Department of Transportation for the operation of that combination of vehicles on a specific route. The bill would require the Department of Transportation to conduct field tests of the truck tractor semitrailer combination for motorsport trucks with a trailer length of 56 feet to evaluate their performance on transition routes connecting to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. The bill would require a permit to operate the above-described combination of vehicles on a specific route for a motorsport event, as specified. The bill would provide that the permit requirement for routes to or from the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the Sonoma Raceway, and the Auto Club Speedway at Fontana would only apply until field tests by the Department of Transportation determine that no additional projects need to be performed on that particular route for the respective raceway, or, if projects are required to be performed on the route, until those projects are completed. The bill would require the department to update the transition routes to reflect road projects completed since the 1990s and to update the transition routes every 5 years thereafter. The bill would require the department to develop new transition routes, as necessary, for the truck tractor semitrailer combination for motorsport trucks with a trailer length of 56 feet. The bill would require, no later than January 1, 2017, the department to submit a report to the Legislature that includes the results of the field tests for the Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, the Sonoma Raceway, and the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, an overview of the related roadway improvements identified and made, and, in consultation with the Department of the California Highway Patrol, a recommendation as to whether the 56 foot trailer length should be reauthorized. The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.