Legislature(2003 - 2004)
03/12/2003 01:04 PM House JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 77 - RIGHT TO LEAVE CAR RUNNING Number 2237 CHAIR McGUIRE announced that the next order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 77, "An Act allowing certain motor vehicles to be operated while unattended." Number 2248 WILLIAM MOFFATT, Staff to Representative Bob Lynn, Alaska State Legislature, said on behalf of Representative Lynn, sponsor, that HB 77 was introduced in response to a January 29, 2003, Anchorage Daily News article titled "REMOTE CONTROL Starting car from afar is just the ($40) ticket." He relayed that the article describes how a lady received a traffic ticket for starting her unattended car with a remote starter. He said that the violation is based on a 1978 Anchorage municipal code. However, he added, current state law also prohibits people from leaving unattended vehicles running. He opined that this state prohibition is obsolete. MR. MOFFATT referred to a legislative research report dated February 18, 2003, which relayed [that the Consumer Electronics Association estimates] that approximately one million remote car starters were sold [industry-wide] in 2002, with a typical increase in sales of 10 to 15 percent per year. He mentioned that General Motors Corporation has announced plans to offer remote starters as a factory option on certain 2004 automobile models. He said that according to six dealers in Anchorage, 11,000 remote starters were sold in 2002; and according to three dealers in Fairbanks, 4,400 were sold in 2002. He posited that these numbers probably represent only 40 to 50 percent of remote starter sales statewide. He offered his estimation that approximately 10 to 15 percent of all Alaskan vehicles have remote starters. MR. MOFFATT observed that due to extremely cold climates in several areas of Alaska, it has long been common practice for drivers to leave automobiles running unattended, while business is conducted indoors nearby. He suggested that failure to leave an automobile running during extremely cold whether might result in the car not restarting. Thus, he opined, the law should make allowances for Alaska's weather conditions. In closing, he said, "HB 77 will repair the current obsolete law, and permit an automobile to have its engine running, so long as the vehicle is locked and is not occupied by a child under 14 or by a disabled person." CHAIR McGUIRE questioned whether HB 77 is merely a proposed state law that would essentially throw out all the municipal policy decisions on this issue. MR. MOFFATT opined that if a municipality has developed policy that prohibits people from running their vehicles unattended, then the policy is improper and should be corrected. CHAIR McGUIRE asked which other municipalities have such policy. MR. MOFFATT said he only knew that Anchorage did. CHAIR McGUIRE relayed that she strongly favors local control; she said she would feel more comfortable with "permissive language" as opposed to "mandating." She suggested that in a state as big as Alaska, certain policy decisions have to made at the local level. TAPE 03-19, SIDE B Number 2382 REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG remarked that Chair McGuire's statements have a lot of merit. He then turned to the language on page 1, line 14, which says, "or that is occupied by a disabled person". He said: Let's say that you have a person who is disabled because they're paralyzed from the waist down, and they may be fully capable of operating that car with special controls. ... For the purpose of this legislation, they should not be treated any differently than any other fully capable driver. And I really want to protect those people. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG surmised that HB 77 needs a little work regarding that issue. CHAIR McGUIRE asked Mr. Moffatt whether he has done any research to ensure that HB 77 complies with the [Americans with] Disabilities Act (ADA). MR. MOFFATT, in response, said that he and the sponsor were largely concerned [instead] "with the remote starter" [issue]. He recalled that the law prohibiting people from leaving their vehicles running was originally developed in an effort to help prevent auto theft. He relayed that it would be his and Representative Lynn's preference to simply repeal all [such restrictions]. He said that according to the aforementioned newspaper article, the state law is more restrictive than the municipal ordinance. He mentioned that he would be willing to remove from HB 77 the reference to disabled persons. CHAIR McGUIRE remarked that from a constitutional standpoint, when making reference to disabled persons in statute, one needs to be very clear what that definition entails, adding that some folks are disabled in ways that don't have anything to do with driving. She mentioned that the committee would be seeking information from him on the issue of compliance with the ADA. Number 2253 REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON noted that HB 77 does not actually delete anything from statute; rather, the restrictions under discussion are located in the Alaska Administrative Code as a regulation. Alaska statute does not prohibit someone from leaving a vehicle running, only the state regulation does. He suggested that perhaps the sponsor should consider a solution involving a change of regulation, rather than a change of statute. He then mentioned that he, too, views local control as important, and prefers permissive language. He asked how many tickets have been issued for violating the state regulation. MR. MOFFATT said that he has not researched that information, adding that the sponsor holds the conviction that "one is enough." REPRESENTATIVE ANDERSON, turning to language on page 1, line 14, asked why the age of 14 was chosen. REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS remarked that 14 is the age at which one can get a driver's permit. MR. MOFFATT noted that 14 was the age chosen by the drafter, and suggested that perhaps it was chosen for that very reason. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL mentioned that several communities "get levied" by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for "air-quality issues." He remarked that perhaps leaving vehicles running could be problematic during certain times of the year. MR. MOFFATT relayed that the DEC has conducted research on this issue. Number 2095 RON G. KING, Program Manager, Air Non-Point & Mobile Sources, Division of Air & Water Quality, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), confirmed that the DEC has performed tests and found that the emissions from a car that has been idling and then driven are not significantly different than the emissions from a car that is simply started up and driven off, as long as the idling vehicle has been doing so for less than an hour. He stated that the Department of Conservation has no position on HB 77. CHAIR McGUIRE asked Mr. Moffatt to provide the committee with information regarding how many municipalities currently have codes that prohibit leaving a vehicle running; how many tickets have been issued - she remarked that one is probably not enough; whether HB 77 as written complies with the ADA, how "disabled" is being defined, and what the link is with operating a vehicle; and why the age of 14 was chosen. She asked Mr. Moffatt to talk with the sponsor regarding the committee's concern about local control. REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG remarked that since this [restriction] is currently a regulation, the committee should give thought to the issue of whether it wants to establish a precedent by addressing a regulatory concern via statute. MR. MOFFATT asked whether the committee would be amenable to a committee substitute that simply voids the regulation. CHAIR McGUIRE remarked that that would be one way of doing it. She asked Mr. Moffatt to consider the whole issue from a policy standpoint, to provide the committee with the information it has requested, and to consider the possibility of coming back with a committee substitute that addresses the committee's concerns. REPRESENTATIVES COGHILL and GRUENBERG, on the issue of a potential conflict of interest, noted that they have remote starters for their vehicles. [HB 77 was held over.]
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