[DeTomaso] Kalifornia Again NPC

[Rick]

Street racing and carbon footprints.  Wonder if "speed enhanced" on a 
Pantera's regs would be a bad thing.

Legislative Quick Hits

California Street Racing: Existing law in California allows law 
enforcement to arrest and take into custody a person determined to have 
been engaged in street racing. The law also provides for the removal and 
seizure of the motor vehicle used in the contest. A vehicle impounded 
under these provisions is required to be impounded for not more than 30 
days. New legislation being considered in the state would require 
vehicles to be inspected by the state police to determine whether the 
vehicle has been modified for speed enhancement beyond the 
manufacturer’s original equipment specifications. The bill would also 
require that an additional registration fee of $30 be collected for a 
motor vehicle so seized and that the motor vehicle be designated as 
speed enhanced on the certificate of registration for that motor 
vehicle. The SAN is working with the bill’s sponsor to mitigate the 
inadvertent effects of this bill on law-abiding motorists.

California “Gas Guzzlers”: In an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas 
emissions, legislation has been reintroduced in California to authorize 
the establishment of a purchase surcharge for some new motor vehicles 
based on state calculations of carbon emissions. Funds collected under 
the program would be used in part to fund rebates for vehicles, 
including hybrid and electric cars. If this effort is successful, the 
effects on consumers’ ability to purchase the vehicle of choice, not to 
mention vehicle safety, could be dramatic. The SAN is opposing the bill 
because it would make popular performance and luxury cars, as well as 
SUVs, light trucks and minivans, substantially more expensive to own. 
The measure also will not necessarily curtail greenhouse gas emissions, 
which depend on a host of other factors, such as total miles traveled.