California Vehicle Code 21058 is intended to protect patients who live in rural areas that may go to hospitals that do not have doctors on staff at all hours of the day and night. There are numerous situations when a doctor may be needed at legitimate emergencies, and getting there fast is essential. If there's a shooting victim, a car accident patient or a woman with labor complications, at a rural hospital it's important to get a doctor to the operating room fast. In rural areas the on-call surgeon may live 15 or 20 miles away from the hospital and it's important for that surgeon to be able to get there in a hurry without worrying about legal repercussions. There are still many rural hospitals in California that still rely on the on-call physician for emergencies.