16500-16503
VEHICLE CODE
SECTION 16500-16503
16500. Every owner of a vehicle used in the transportation of passengers for hire, including taxicabs, when the operation of the vehicle is not subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission, shall maintain, whenever he or she may be engaged in conducting those operations, proof of financial responsibility resulting from the ownership or operation of the vehicle and arising by reason of personal injury to, or death of, any one person, of at least fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), and, subject to the limit of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for each person injured or killed, of at least thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) for the injury to, or the death of, two or more persons in any one accident, and for damages to property of at least five thousand dollars ($5,000) resulting from any one accident. Proof of financial responsibility may be maintained by either: (a) Being insured under a motor vehicle liability policy against that liability. (b) Obtaining a bond of the same kind, and containing the same provisions, as those bonds specified in Section 16434. (c) By depositing with the department thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000), which amount shall be deposited in a special deposit account with the Controller for the purpose of this section. (d) Qualifying as a self-insurer under Section 16053. The department shall return the deposit to the person entitled thereto when he or she is no longer required to maintain proof of financial responsibility as required by this section or upon his or her death. 16500.5. (a) Except as specified in subdivision (b), the owner of the following commercial vehicles shall maintain proof of financial responsibility in the amount required by the director: (1) A vehicle used to carry passengers for hire, except taxicabs as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 27908. (2) A vehicle having an unladen weight of over 7,000 pounds which is used in the transportation of property in the conduct of a business. (b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to the following vehicles: (1) A schoolbus. (2) A motor vehicle used by a farmer exclusively in the transportation of his or her livestock, implements of husbandry, and agricultural commodities or in the transportation of supplies to his or her farm. (3) A motor vehicle used by a resident farmer of this state to occasionally transport from the place of production to a warehouse, regular market, place of storage, or place of shipment the farm products of neighboring farmers in exchange for like services, farm products, or other compensation. (4) A vehicle used in for-hire transportation which is subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission. (5) A rented vehicle used for noncommercial transportation of property. (c) The director shall establish the amounts which are determined adequate to cover damages resulting from the ownership or operation of a commercial vehicle or vehicles subject to this section arising by reason of personal injury to, or death of, any person or damage to property, or both. The director shall establish the amounts at levels equal to those prescribed by the Public Utilities Commission for owners and operators of for-hire vehicles subject to its jurisdiction and control. (d) Proof of financial responsibility may be maintained by any of the following: (1) Being insured under one or more motor vehicle liability policies against that liability. (2) Obtaining a bond of the same kind, and containing the same provisions, as those bonds specified in Section 16434. (3) By depositing with the department five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), which amount shall be deposited in a special deposit account with the Controller for the purpose of this section. (4) Qualifying as a self-insurer under Section 16053. (e) The department shall return the deposit made pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (d) to the person entitled thereto when the owner is no longer required to maintain proof of financial responsibility as required by this section or upon the owner's death. (f) An insurer, agent, or broker who has been incorrectly informed by an owner of a vehicle or his or her representative that the vehicle is 7,000 pounds or less unladen weight, or is incorrectly informed by the owner or his or her representative that the vehicle is exempt from the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (c) pursuant to the exemptions set forth in subdivision (b), may issue a policy of motor vehicle liability insurance in any amount less than that required by the director but not less than the amounts required under Section 16451. The policy of motor vehicle liability insurance when issued shall not be deemed to provide liability coverage amounts greater than that specifically set forth in the policy notwithstanding that the vehicle weighs in excess of 7,000 pounds unladen weight or is subsequently used in a manner which would have required the vehicle to be insured in the amounts established by the director pursuant to subdivision (c). 16501. The provisions of this chapter shall not prevent local authorities, within the reasonable exercise of the police power, from adopting rules and regulations, by ordinance or resolution, licensing and regulating the operation of any vehicle for hire and the drivers of passenger vehicles for hire. 16502. (a) An owner shall not use, or with his or her consent permit the use of, a vehicle used in the transportation of persons or property in the conduct of a business, without maintaining proof of financial responsibility as required by this chapter. (b) A motor vehicle from another country in which there is no evidence of financial responsibility required pursuant to this chapter or Part 387 (commencing with Section 387.1) of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations shall be denied entry into the state. 16503. The department shall suspend the registration of all vehicles used in the transportation of persons or property in the conduct of a business, except vehicles subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission, which are registered in the name of any person convicted of violating Section 16502 immediately upon receipt of a duly certified abstract of the record of the court in which the person was convicted. The suspension shall remain in effect and no such vehicle shall be registered in the name of the person until he or she gives the department proof of his or her financial responsibility as required by Section 16500.