Proposed crackdown on reckless driving by paparazzi advances

State lawmakers Friday moved forward with a crackdown on reckless driving by paparazzi trying to photograph celebrities, and acted to block cities from grabbing the state’s share of money from traffic tickets.

The two pieces of legislation were approved by the state Senate, which sent the paparazzi bill back to the Assembly to agree on amendments. AB 2479 would impose penalties of up to $5,000 with the possibility of jail time for photographers caught driving in a dangerous manner to get photos or video of celebrities.

“This bill is intended to address out-of-control paparazzi,” said Sen. Curren Price Jr. (D-Inglewood). “They are employing more aggressive and unsafe tactics that endanger both celebrities and the general public.”

The measure, sought by Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich, was approved on a 21-13 vote. Opponents, including Sen. Leland Yee (D- San Francisco), said they agreed with the California Newspaper Publishing Assn. that there already are laws against reckless driving and that the bill infringes on the rights of all members of the press.

“The senator does not think journalists should be subject to harsher penalties than any other member of the public,” said Adam Keigwin, a spokesman for Yee. “The bill would not just apply to ‘bad paparazzi,’ but also members of the mainstream media who may be in transit to an emergency situation, including fires, crime scenes, terrorist attacks or other breaking news.”

The Senate also approved SB 949, which seeks to halt a recent trend by cities that have diverted traffic ticket fines from the state to municipal coffers.

“Several local governments have recently made it their official policy to substitute their own local ordinances for defined violations and penalties in the state’s vehicle code for moving violations,” said Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D- Long Beach), who authored the bill.

By writing the tickets for speeding as violations of their own municipal ordinances instead of state law, cities have been able to keep more of the revenue from fines, she said.

The bill says that local authorities, who already get a share of ticket fines, cannot enact or enforce an ordinance involving violations covered by the state vehicle code. The measure was opposed by cities including Los Angeles, Costa Mesa and Fremont.

Meanwhile, the state Senate began voluntarily posting the salaries of all its employees on its website Friday even as Assembly officials said they still think the disclosure should be required by law.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com