Section 16028 Of Article 2. Financial Responsibility From California Vehicle Code >> Division 7. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 2.
16028
. (a) Upon the demand of a peace officer pursuant to
subdivision (b) or upon the demand of a peace officer or traffic
collision investigator pursuant to subdivision (c), every person who
drives a motor vehicle upon a highway shall provide evidence of
financial responsibility for the vehicle that is in effect at the
time the demand is made. The evidence of financial responsibility may
be provided using a mobile electronic device. However, a peace
officer shall not stop a vehicle for the sole purpose of determining
whether the vehicle is being driven in violation of this subdivision.
(b) If a notice to appear is issued for any alleged violation of
this code, except a violation specified in Chapter 9 (commencing with
Section 22500) of Division 11 or any local ordinance adopted
pursuant to that chapter, the cited driver shall furnish written
evidence of financial responsibility or may provide electronic
verification of evidence of financial responsibility using a mobile
electronic device upon request of the peace officer issuing the
citation. The peace officer shall request and write the driver's
evidence of financial responsibility on the notice to appear, except
when the peace officer is unable to write the driver's evidence of
financial responsibility on the notice to appear due to an emergency
that requires his or her presence elsewhere. If the cited driver
fails to provide evidence of financial responsibility at the time the
notice to appear is issued, the peace officer may issue the driver a
notice to appear for violation of subdivision (a). The notice to
appear for violation of subdivision (a) shall be written on the same
citation form as the original violation.
(c) If a peace officer, or a regularly employed and salaried
employee of a city or county who has been trained as a traffic
collision investigator, is summoned to the scene of an accident
described in Section 16000, the driver of a motor vehicle that is in
any manner involved in the accident shall furnish written evidence of
financial responsibility or may provide electronic verification of
evidence of financial responsibility using a mobile electronic device
upon the request of the peace officer or traffic collision
investigator. If the driver fails to provide evidence of financial
responsibility when requested, the peace officer may issue the driver
a notice to appear for violation of this subdivision. A traffic
collision investigator may cause a notice to appear to be issued for
a violation of this subdivision, upon review of that citation by a
peace officer.
(d) (1) If, at the time a notice to appear for a violation of
subdivision (a) is issued, the person is driving a motor vehicle
owned or leased by the driver's employer, and the vehicle is being
driven with the permission of the employer, this section shall apply
to the employer rather than the driver. In that case, a notice to
appear shall be issued to the employer rather than the driver, and
the driver may sign the notice on behalf of the employer.
(2) The driver shall notify the employer of the receipt of the
notice issued pursuant to paragraph (1) not later than five days
after receipt.
(e) A person issued a notice to appear for a violation of
subdivision (a) may personally appear before the clerk of the court,
as designated in the notice to appear, and provide written evidence
of financial responsibility in a form consistent with Section 16020,
showing that the driver was in compliance with that section at the
time the notice to appear for violating subdivision (a) was issued.
In lieu of the personal appearance, the person may submit by mail to
the court written evidence of having had financial responsibility at
the time the notice to appear was issued. Upon receipt by the clerk
of that written evidence of financial responsibility in a form
consistent with Section 16020, further proceedings on the notice to
appear for the violation of subdivision (a) shall be dismissed.
(f) For the purposes of this section, "mobile electronic device"
means a portable computing and communication device that has a
display screen with touch input or a miniature keyboard.
(g) For the purposes of this section, when a person provides
evidence of financial responsibility using a mobile electronic device
to a peace officer, the peace officer shall only view the evidence
of financial responsibility and is prohibited from viewing any other
content on the mobile electronic device.
(h) If a person presents a mobile electronic device pursuant to
this section, that person assumes all liability for any damage to the
mobile electronic device.