California Vehicle Code 23517 – (a) To the extent that personnel and facilities are made …
(a) To the extent that personnel and facilities are made available to the court, the court may include a requirement for supervised visitation by the defendant or ward to all, or any, of the following:
(1) A trauma facility, as defined in § 1798.160 of the Health and Safety Code, a base hospital designated pursuant to Section 1798.100 or 1798.101 of the Health and Safety Code, or a general acute care hospital having a basic emergency medical services special permit issued pursuant to subdivision (c) of § 1277 of the Health and Safety Code that regularly receives victims of vehicle crashes, between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. on a Friday or Saturday night to observe appropriate victims of vehicle crashes involving drinking drivers, under the supervision of any of the following:
Terms Used In California Vehicle Code 23517
- County: includes every county and city and county within this State. See California Vehicle Code 270
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- vehicle: is a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway, excepting a device moved exclusively by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See California Vehicle Code 670
(A) A registered nurse trained in providing emergency trauma care or prehospital advanced life support.
(B) An emergency room physician.
(C) An emergency medical technician-paramedic or an emergency medical technician II.
(2) If approved by the county coroner, the county coroner’s office or the county morgue to observe appropriate victims of vehicle crashes involving drinking drivers, under the supervision of the coroner or a deputy coroner.
(b) As used in this section, “appropriate victims” means victims whose condition is determined by the visitation supervisor to demonstrate the results of crashes involving drinking drivers without being excessively gruesome or traumatic to the probationer.
(c) If persons trained in counseling or substance abuse are made available to the court, the court may coordinate the visitation program or the visitations at any facility designated in subdivision (a) through those persons.
(d) Any visitation shall include, before any observation of victims or disabled persons by the probationer, a comprehensive counseling session with the visitation supervisor at which the supervisor shall explain and discuss the experiences that may be encountered during the visitation in order to ascertain whether the visitation is appropriate for the probationer.
(e) If at any time, whether before or during a visitation, the supervisor of the probationer determines that the visitation may be or is traumatic or otherwise inappropriate for the probationer, or is uncertain whether the visitation may be traumatic or inappropriate, the visitation shall be terminated without prejudice to the probationer.
(f) Prior to the court including a requirement for supervised visitation, pursuant to subdivision (a), the court shall consider the speed of the vehicle, the severity of any injuries sustained as a result of the violation, and whether the defendant or ward was engaged in a speed competition, as defined in Section 23109.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 81, Sec. 5. (AB 2198) Effective January 1, 2023.)