Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, as used in this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) “Commercial driver’s license” means a driver’s license issued by a state or other jurisdiction, in accordance with the standards contained in Part 383 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which authorizes the licenseholder to operate a class or type of commercial motor vehicle.

(b) (1) “Commercial motor vehicle” means any vehicle or combination of vehicles that requires a class A or class B license, or a class C license with an endorsement issued pursuant to paragraph (2), (3), (4), or (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 15278.

(2) “Commercial motor vehicle” does not include any of the following:

(A) A recreational vehicle, as defined in Section 18010 of the Health and Safety Code.

(B) An implement of husbandry operated by a person who is not required to obtain a driver’s license under this code.

(C) Vehicles operated by persons exempted pursuant to Section 25163 of the Health and Safety Code or a vehicle operated in an emergency situation at the direction of a peace officer pursuant to Section 2800.

(c) “Controlled substance” has the same meaning as defined by the federal Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. Sec. 802).

(d) “Conviction” means an unvacated adjudication of guilt, or a determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or by an authorized administrative tribunal, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person’s appearance in court, a plea of guilty or nolo contendere accepted by the court, the payment of a fine or court costs, or violation of a condition of release without bail, regardless of whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended, or probated.

(e) “Disqualification” means a prohibition against driving a commercial motor vehicle.

(f) “Driving a commercial vehicle under the influence” means committing any one or more of the following unlawful acts in a commercial motor vehicle:

(1) Driving a commercial motor vehicle while the operator’s blood-alcohol concentration level is 0.04 percent or more, by weight in violation of subdivision (d) of Section 23152.

(2) Driving under the influence of alcohol, as prescribed in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 23152.

(3) Refusal to undergo testing as required under this code in the enforcement of Subpart D of Part 383 or Subpart A of Part 392 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(g) “Employer” means any person, including the United States, a state, or political subdivision of a state, who owns or leases a commercial motor vehicle or assigns drivers to operate that vehicle. A person who employs himself or herself as a commercial vehicle driver is considered to be both an employer and a driver for purposes of this chapter.

(h) “Fatality” means the death of a person as a result of a motor vehicle accident.

(i) “Felony” means an offense under state or federal law that is punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

(j) “Gross combination weight rating” means the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum loaded weight of a combination or articulated vehicle. In the absence of a value specified by the manufacturer, gross vehicle weight rating shall be determined by adding the gross vehicle weight rating of the power unit and the total weight of the towed units and any load thereon.

(k) “Gross vehicle weight rating” means the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum loaded weight of a single vehicle, as defined in Section 350.

(l) “Imminent hazard” means the existence of a condition that presents a substantial likelihood that death, serious illness, severe personal injury, or substantial endangerment to health, property, or the environment may occur before the reasonably foreseeable completion date of a formal proceeding has begun to lessen the risk of death, illness, injury, or endangerment.

(m) “Noncommercial motor vehicle” means a motor vehicle or combination of motor vehicles that is not included within the definition in subdivision (b).

(n) “Nonresident commercial driver’s license” means a commercial driver’s license issued to an individual by a state under one of the following provisions:

(1) The individual is domiciled in a foreign country.

(2) The individual is domiciled in another state.

(o) “Schoolbus” is a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in Section 545.

(p) “Serious traffic violation” includes any of the following:

(1) Excessive speeding, as defined pursuant to the federal Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act (P.L. 99-570) involving any single offense for any speed of 15 miles an hour or more above the posted speed limit.

(2) Reckless driving, as defined pursuant to the federal Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act (P.L. 99-570), and driving in the manner described under Section 2800.1, 2800.2, or 2800.3, including, but not limited to, the offense of driving a commercial motor vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.

(3) A violation of a state or local law involving the safe operation of a motor vehicle, arising in connection with a fatal traffic accident.

(4) A similar violation of a state or local law involving the safe operation of a motor vehicle, as defined pursuant to the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Title XII of P.L. 99-570).

(5) Driving a commercial motor vehicle without a commercial driver’s license.

(6) Driving a commercial motor vehicle without the driver having in his or her possession a commercial driver’s license, unless the driver provides proof at the subsequent court appearance that he or she held a valid commercial driver’s license on the date of the violation.

(7) Driving a commercial motor vehicle when the driver has not met the minimum testing standards for that vehicle as to the class or type of cargo the vehicle is carrying.

(8) Driving a commercial motor vehicle while using an electronic wireless communication device to write, send, or read a text-based communication, as defined in Section 23123.5.

In the absence of a federal definition, existing definitions under this code apply.

(q) “State” means a state of the United States or the District of Columbia.

(r) “Tank vehicle” means a commercial motor vehicle that is designed to transport any liquid or gaseous material within a tank or tanks having an individual rated capacity of more than 119 gallons and an aggregate rated capacity of at least 1,000 gallons that is permanently or temporarily attached to the vehicle or the chassis, including, but not limited to, cargo tanks and portable tanks, as defined in Part 171 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. A commercial motor vehicle transporting an empty storage container tank not designed for transportation, with a rated capacity of at least 1,000 gallons that is temporarily attached to a flatbed trailer, is not a tank vehicle.

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 303, Sec. 540. (AB 731) Effective January 1, 2016.)