ADMINISTRATIVE MEMORANDUM

COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

NUMBER: D-5

SUBJECT: Use of Cars for County Business

RESPONSIBLE DEPARTMENT: General Services

DATE: August 2, 1993

Use of County Cars

County cars may not be used to conduct personal business.

Seat Belts

When on County business, whether in County-owned or privately-owned automobiles, drivers and passengers must use seat belts.

If seat belts in County vehicles are in any way defective, the vehicle may not be used and the motor pool notified immediately.

All privately owned vehicles used for County business must have working seat belts.

Accident Reporting

Instructions for accidents and en1ergencies may be found in the glove compartment of each car.

Use of Private Vehicles

Department heads who receive a monthly transportation allowance may not use County cars. Most other County employees have the option of using either a private vehicle or a County vehicle in conducting County business. Department heads can require that certain employees use official County service vehicles. Employees using private vehicles for County business will be reimbursed for their mileage at a rate adopted by the Board of Supervisors.

Overnight Assignment of County Vehicles

The following criteria must be used in the overnight assignment of County-owned vehicles:

  1. Continuous On-Call Status
    A number of County employees are regularly on-call during other than normal working hours. These employees, primarily in law enforcement, must be able to respond to emergency calls at any time and therefore may be assigned a County vehicle overnight.
  2. Special Equipment
    Vehicles with special job-related equipment, such as test equipment or police radios, may be assigned to specific individuals.
  3. Work Location
    A vehicle assignment may be made if an employee requires use of a County vehicle to perform his or her job, and if it is in the best interest of the County for that employee to report directly from home to his or her work location.
  4. Vehicle Use Required Other Than Working Hours
    Employees not officially on-call but who must attend frequent night meetings, or who frequently conduct business requiring during normal working hours, may be assigned a County vehicle overnight.
  5. Guaranteed Ride Home
    If County vehicles are available, management will authorize the usage to a Rideshare employee on an EMERGENCY basis, where applicable.

The County Manager must approve, in advance, overnight vehicle assignments. Department heads must submit written justifications for all County· vehicles assigned overnight by February 15 of each year so that the County Manager can determine if overnight assignments should continue. ‘The department head’s justification will indicate how one or more of the criteria are met and will include the following information:

  • description of usage;
  • number of trips past year, by month;
  • number of miles driven past year, by month; and
  • property number of each vehicle.
2015-05-03