Insurance: personal vehicle sharing.

Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including automobile liability insurance. Existing law prohibits classifying a private passenger motor vehicle as a commercial vehicle, for-hire vehicle, permissive use vehicle, or livery solely because its owner allows it to be shared, if specified criteria are met. Existing law requires a personal vehicle sharing program to provide insurance coverage for the vehicle and driver that is equal to or greater than the coverage maintained by the vehicle owner, but no less than 3 times the minimum coverage amounts for private passenger vehicles. Existing law requires an owner or operator of a motor vehicle, or an owner of a vehicle used to transport passengers for hire not regulated by the Public Utilities Commission, to maintain liability insurance coverage for the named insured and any other person using the vehicle with permission in the amount of $15,000 for the bodily injury or death of any one person, $30,000 for the bodily injury or death of all persons, and $5,000 for damage to the property of others resulting from any one accident. Existing law increases these minimum amounts to $30,000, $60,000, and $15,000, respectively, on January 1, 2025. Under existing law, a violation of these requirements is a crime. This bill would delete the insurance coverage requirement for a personal vehicle sharing program, and would instead require a personal vehicle sharing program, when a vehicle is engaged in personal vehicle sharing, to provide liability insurance coverage of the same minimum coverage that applies to an owner or operator of a motor vehicle. The bill would require a personal vehicle sharing program to provide the vehicle owner and operator with the ability to purchase additional coverage and to make specified disclosures. A violation of these provisions would make a person liable for a specified civil penalty, and a violation of the requirement to maintain minimum liability coverages would be a crime, thus imposing a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.