SECTIONS 53150-53159 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 53150-53159

53150. Any person who is under the influence of an alcoholic
beverage or any drug, or the combined influence of an alcoholic
beverage and any drug, whose negligent operation of a motor vehicle
caused by that influence proximately causes any incident resulting in
an appropriate emergency response, and any person whose
intentionally wrongful conduct proximately causes any incident
resulting in an appropriate emergency response, is liable for the
expense of an emergency response by a public agency to the incident.

53151. Any person who is under the influence of an alcoholic
beverage or any drug, or the combined influence of an alcoholic
beverage and any drug, whose negligent operation of any boat or
vessel caused by that influence proximately causes any incident
resulting in an appropriate emergency response, and any person whose
intentionally wrongful conduct proximately causes any incident
resulting in an appropriate emergency response, is liable for the
expense of an emergency response by a public agency to the incident.

53152. Any person who is under the influence of an alcoholic
beverage or any drug, or the combined influence of an alcoholic
beverage and any drug, whose negligent operation of a civil aircraft
caused by that influence proximately causes any incident resulting in
an appropriate emergency response, and any person whose
intentionally wrongful conduct proximately causes an incident
resulting in an appropriate emergency response, is liable for the
expense of an emergency response by a public agency to the incident.

53153. For purposes of this article, a person is under the
influence of an alcoholic beverage or any drug, or the combined
influence of an alcoholic beverage and any drug, when as a result of
drinking an alcoholic beverage or using a drug, or both, his or her
physical or mental abilities are impaired to a degree that he or she
no longer has the ability to operate a motor vehicle, boat or vessel,
or aircraft with the caution characteristic of a sober person of
ordinary prudence under the same or similar circumstances. For
purposes of this article, the presumptions described in Sections
23152 and 23155 of the Vehicle Code shall apply.

53153.5. (a) Any person 18 years of age or older who is convicted
of making a false police report, in violation of Section 148.3 of the
Penal Code, and that false police report proximately causes an
appropriate emergency response by a public agency, is liable for the
expense of the emergency response made by the responding public
agency to the incident.
(b) A public agency shall be entitled to satisfaction of any
judgment for expenses pursuant to this article after any victims or
other persons injured by the incident are compensated for their
injuries and any liens held by a medical provider are satisfied.

53154. The expense of an emergency response shall be a charge
against the person liable for expenses under this article. The charge
constitutes a debt of that person and is collectible by the public
agency incurring those costs in the same manner as in the case of an
obligation under a contract, expressed or implied, except that
liability for the expenses provided for in this article shall not be
insurable and no insurance policy shall provide or pay for the
expenses.

53155. In no event shall a person's liability under this article
for the expense of an emergency response exceed twelve thousand
dollars ($12,000) for a particular incident.

53156. As used in this article:
(a) "Expense of an emergency response" means reasonable costs
incurred by a public agency in reasonably making an appropriate
emergency response to the incident, but shall only include those
costs directly arising because of the response to the particular
incident. Reasonable costs shall include the costs of providing
police, firefighting, rescue, and emergency medical services at the
scene of the incident, as well as the salaries of the personnel
responding to the incident.
(b) "Public agency" means the state and any city, county,
municipal corporation, district, or public authority located, in
whole or in part, within this state which provides or may provide
firefighting, police, ambulance, medical, or other emergency
services.
(c) "Intentionally wrongful conduct" means conduct intended to
injure another person or property.

53157. Any testimony, admission, or any other statement made by the
defendant in any proceeding brought pursuant to this article, or any
evidence derived from the testimony, admission, or other statement,
shall not be admitted or otherwise used in any criminal proceeding
arising out of the same incident.

53158. It is not the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this
article, to occupy the field of recovery of the expense of an
emergency response by a public agency, nor is it the intent of the
Legislature to preempt local regulations or to otherwise limit the
remedies available to any public agency to recover the expenses of an
emergency response to any incident not involving persons who operate
a motor vehicle, a boat or vessel, or a civil aircraft while under
the influence of an alcoholic beverage or any drug, or the combined
influence of an alcoholic beverage and any drug. It is the intent of
the Legislature that the recovery of the expenses of an emergency
response under this chapter shall supplement and shall not supplant
any other provisions of law relating to the recovery of those
expenses.

53159. (a) As used in this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Expenses of an emergency response" means those reasonable and
necessary costs directly incurred by public agencies, for-profit
entities, or not-for-profit entities that make an appropriate
emergency response to an incident, and include the cost of providing
police, firefighting, search and rescue, and emergency medical
services at the scene of an incident, and salaries of the persons who
respond to the incident, but does not include charges assessed by an
ambulance service.
(2) "Public agency" means the state and any city, county,
municipal corporation, or other public authority that is located in
whole or in part in this state and that provides police,
firefighting, medical, or other emergency services.
(b) Any person who intentionally, knowingly, and willfully enters
into any area that is closed or has been closed to the public by
competent authority for any reason, or an area that a reasonable
person under the circumstances should have known was closed to the
public, is liable for the expenses of an emergency response required
to search for or rescue that person, or if the person was operating a
vehicle, any of his or her passengers, plus the expenses for the
removal of any inoperable vehicle. Posting a sign, placing a
barricade, a restraining or retaining wall, roping off an area, or
any other device is sufficient indication that an area is closed to
the public due to danger of injury, for the public's safety, or for
any other reason.
(c) A person who drives a vehicle on a public street or highway
that is temporarily covered by a rise in water level, including
groundwater or overflow of water, and that is barricaded by any of
the means described in subdivision (b), because of flooding, is
liable for the expenses of any emergency response that is required to
remove from the public street or highway, the driver, or any
passenger in the vehicle that has become inoperable on the public
street or highway, or the vehicle that has become inoperable on the
public street or highway.
(d) Unless otherwise provided by law, this section shall apply to
all persons, regardless of whether the person is on foot, on skis or
snowshoes, or is operating a motor vehicle, bicycle, vessel,
watercraft, raft, snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle, or any other boat
or vehicle of any description.
(e) This section shall not apply to any person who is authorized
by the landowner, lessor, or manager of the closed area, to be in the
closed area, and further shall have no application to any federal,
state, or local government official who is in the closed area as part
of his or her official duty, nor to any public utility performing
services consistent with its public purpose, nor to any person acting
in concert with a government authorized search or rescue. A person
who was attempting to rescue another person or an animal shall not be
liable for expenses of an emergency response under this section.
(f) Expenses of an emergency response are a charge against the
person liable for those expenses pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c).
The charge constitutes a debt of that person and may be collected
proportionately as specified in subdivision (g). The debt shall apply
only to the person who intentionally, knowingly, and willfully
enters the closed area, and not to his or her family, heirs, or
assigns. The parent or parents of a minor child who has violated
subdivision (b) or (c) may be responsible for the debt.
(g) The debt may be collected proportionately by the public
agencies, for-profit entities, and not-for-profit entities that incur
the expenses. The liability imposed under this section shall be in
addition to, and not in limitation of, any other liability, fines, or
fees that are imposed by law.
(h) An insurance policy may exclude coverage for a person's
liability for expenses of an emergency response.