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                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 327

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State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Representatives Baugher, Patrick, Walk, Schmidt, Rayburn, R. King and Silver; by Washington State Patrol request

Read first time 1/30/85 and referred to Committee on Transportation.

AN ACT Relating to motor vehicles; and amending RCW 46.37.190.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 46.37.190, chapter 12, Laws of 1961 as last amended by section 1, chapter 101, Laws of 1982 and RCW 46.37.190 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1) Every authorized emergency vehicle shall, in addition to any other equipment and distinctive marking required by this chapter, be equipped with at least one lamp capable of displaying a red light visible from at least five hundred feet in normal sunlight and a siren capable of giving an audible signal.

          (2) Every school bus and private carrier bus shall, in addition to any other equipment and distinctive markings required by this chapter, be equipped with a "stop" signal upon a background not less than fourteen by eighteen inches displaying the word "stop" in letters of distinctly contrasting colors not less than eight inches high, and shall further be equipped with signal lamps mounted as high and as widely spaced laterally as practicable, which shall be capable of displaying to the front two alternately flashing red lights located at the same level and to the rear two alternately flashing red lights located at the same level and these lights shall have sufficient intensity to be visible at five hundred feet in normal sunlight.

          (3) Vehicles operated by public agencies whose law enforcement duties include the authority to stop and detain motor vehicles on the public highways of the state may be equipped with a siren and lights of a color and type designated by the commission on equipment for that purpose.  The commission may prohibit the use of these sirens and lights on vehicles other than the vehicles described in this subsection.

          (4) The lights described in this section shall not be mounted nor used on any vehicle other than a school bus, a private carrier bus, or an authorized emergency or law enforcement vehicle.  Optical strobe light devices shall not be installed or used on any vehicle other than an authorized emergency or law enforcement vehicle that is publicly owned.  An "optical strobe light device" means a strobe light device which emits an optical signal at a specific frequency to a traffic control light enabling the vehicle in which the strobe light device is used to obtain the right of way at intersections.

          (5) The use of the signal equipment described herein shall impose upon drivers of other vehicles the obligation to yield right of way and stop as prescribed in RCW 46.61.210, 46.61.370, and 46.61.350.