SECTIONS 5391-5393 - California Statutes

PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE

SECTION 5391-5393

5391. The commission shall, in granting permits or a certificate
pursuant to this chapter, require the charter-party carrier of
passengers to procure, and to continue in effect during the life of
the permit or certificate, adequate protection against liability
imposed by law upon the charter-party carrier of passengers for the
payment of damages for personal bodily injuries, including death
resulting therefrom, protection against a total liability of the
charter-party carrier of passengers on account of bodily injuries to,
or death of, more than one person as a result of any one accident,
and protection against damage or destruction of property. The minimum
requirements for such assurances of protection against liability
shall not be less than the requirements which are applicable to
operations conducted under certificates of public convenience and
necessity issued pursuant to the provisions of Article 2 (commencing
with Section 1031), Chapter 5, Part 1, Division 1, of this code, and
the rules and regulations prescribed pursuant thereto shall apply to
charter-party carriers of passengers.

5391.2. Notwithstanding Section 5391, in granting certificates to
the holders of class C certificates, the commission shall require
that those carriers procure and continue in effect adequate
protection against liability imposed by law upon the carrier for the
payment of damages for personal bodily injuries, including death
resulting therefrom; protection against a total liability of the
carrier of passengers on account of bodily injuries to, or death of,
more than one person as a result of any one accident; and protection
against damage or destruction of property. The requirement of that
assurance of protection against liability shall be seven hundred
fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) per accident.

5391.5. The commission shall commence a rulemaking proceeding to
develop uniform operating standards applicable to charter-party
carriers of passengers. The rulemaking proceeding shall include, but
shall not be limited to, a consideration of all of the following
issues:
(a) Whether current insurance limits provide sufficient liability
coverage for charter-party carriers to operate to any point in this
state.
(b) Whether the commission's requirements concerning the
maintenance of records is sufficient to permit the safe operation of
charter-party carriers to any point in this state.
(c) Whether the commission's current procedures for the issuance
of operating authority are creating unnecessary congestion upon the
roads of this state.

5392. (a) The protection required under Sections 5391 and 5391.2
shall be evidenced by the deposit of any of the following with the
commission covering each vehicle used or to be used under the
certificate or permit applied for:
(1) A policy of insurance, issued by a company licensed to write
insurance in this state, or by nonadmitted insurers subject to
Section 1763 of the Insurance Code, if the policies meet the rules
promulgated therefor by the commission.
(2) A bond of a surety company licensed to write surety bonds in
the state.
(3) Evidence of the qualification of the charter-party carrier of
passengers as a self-insurer as may be authorized by the commission.
(b) This section applies only to the driver supplied by a
charter-party carrier of passengers engaged in the provision of a
hired driver service when a rented motor vehicle is being operated by
the hired driver. The requirements of this section do not apply to
the separately rented vehicle.

5392.3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
charter-party carrier of passengers that contracts to provide a
vanpool vehicle, as described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of
Section 17149 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, to an employer or a
group of employees for the purpose of operating that vehicle for
transportation to and from work shall maintain protection against
liability with respect to that vehicle in the same form and amount as
described in Section 5391.2.

5392.5. No person, firm, or corporation holding a valid permit
issued by the commission pursuant to this chapter shall be required
by any agency of local government to provide insurance in a manner
different from that required by the commission.

5393. With the consent of the commission a copy of an insurance
policy, certified by the company issuing it to be a true copy of the
original policy, or a photostatic copy thereof, or an abstract of the
provisions of the policy, or a certificate of insurance issued by
the company issuing the policy, may be filed with the commission in
lieu of the original or a duplicate or counterpart of the policy.