Senator Jerry Hill introduced California Senate Bill 338 to require owners of limousines offered for hire in California to equip their limousines with two fire extinguishers, one in the drivers’ compartment and one in the passenger cabin.
Senator Hill carried SB 338 after an incident that occurred on May 5, 2013, in which a limousine caught fire while traveling on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge over the San Francisco Bay. That limousine was carrying nine passengers. The driver escaped unharmed and four of the passengers escaped through the driver’s partition. The five other passengers died in the blaze. Senator Hill asserted that the limousine did not have a fire extinguisher and introduced this bill to require limousines for hire to have fire extinguishers on board for use in situations such as this May 5th incident.
When introduced on February 20, 2013, SB 338 related to a different topic, but the bill was then gutted and amended on May 13, 2013 to address limousines and fire extinguishers. As last amended on July 3, 2013, the Senate sought to add section 5374.3 to the Public Utilities Code relating to the new subject matter and to charter-party carriers of passengers.
At this time, Senate Bill 338 is heading to the Assembly. SB 338 is supported by the California Professional Firefighters and the California State Sheriffs’ Association.
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