Penal Code § 243.3 is a California battery provision for specified transportation passengers and personnel. A dispute on a bus, train, taxi or station is not automatically this charge: the prosecution must connect an alleged harmful or offensive touching to a covered person and satisfy the section’s role, duty and knowledge conditions. A separate injury allegation can change the punishment. The current statute expanded its public-transit employee and contractor language effective January 1, 2026, so the event date and filed count matter.
Identify the person and transportation setting
The statute names an operator, driver or passenger on specified vehicles used to transport people for hire, including buses, taxicabs, streetcars, cable cars, trackless trolleys and other covered motor or rail vehicles. It separately names a schoolbus driver and a station or ticket agent for the transportation entity. The 2026 text also covers a public transportation provider and, in its exact excerpt, “an employee or contractor of a public transportation provider.” Read the current § 243.3 text rather than assuming every person in a station or every rideshare dispute is covered.
For an operator, driver, agent, employee or contractor, the statute asks whether that person was engaged in performing duties and whether the accused knew or reasonably should have known the relevant role and duty context. A passenger is a separate alternative; do not impose an employee-duty requirement on a passenger. Compare the trip, vehicle, location, route, shift or assignment records, any uniform or identification, and the full conversation before the alleged contact. A role label in a police summary is not the entire proof.
The saved 2026 CALCRIM instruction 948 explains the older operator/driver/passenger/agent elements. It was last revised in February 2025, before the statutory expansion to public transportation provider employees and contractors. Use the operative statute for the complete 2026 role list and have counsel check which version applies to the alleged event date.
Distinguish contact from the injury alternative
Section 242 defines battery as a willful and unlawful use of force or violence on another person. A harmful or offensive touching can be enough; a bruise is not an element of every § 243.3 count. Section 243.3’s first penalty branch allows a fine up to $10,000, county jail up to one year, or both. Preserve full video before and after the contact, witness positions, seat or vehicle layout, and any object that allegedly touched someone. The force, context and any lawful defense require the actual evidence, not a clip alone.
Compare the underlying contact allegation with the firm’s battery guide while keeping section 243.3’s transportation-related requirements separate.
The separate statutory alternative begins “If an injury is inflicted on that victim” and permits the stated fine or up to one year in county jail or a state-prison term of 16 months, two years or three years. Current Penal Code § 243(f)(5) defines this injury as physical injury requiring professional medical treatment. An ambulance trip or clinic visit can be relevant but does not by itself answer whether the nature and extent of the injury required that treatment. A charging allegation is not a finding, and the statutory alternatives do not predict the sentence in an individual case.
Records to compare before a hearing
Keep the citation or complaint and date of conduct, vehicle and route details, fare or passenger record if available, shift or contractor information, whole camera interval, full messages, injury and treatment chronology, and the next hearing notice. Ask counsel which exact role and injury alternative appears in the filing and whether a different ordinary battery section is charged as well. Do not contact witnesses contrary to any order or attempt to alter records.
The Law Offices of David S. Chesley can assess the filed count and practical next step with you. Contact the firm or call (800) 755-5174.