S-164                 _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 3032

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Senator Goltz

Prefiled with Secretary of the Senate 1/7/85.  Read first time 1/15/85 and referred to Committee on Transportation.

AN ACT Relating to motor vehicle seat belts; adding a new section to chapter 46.37 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 46.37 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) No person may drive a motor vehicle on a highway if the vehicle is required by RCW 46.37.510 to be equipped with a safety belt assembly and the assembly has been removed, rendered partly or wholly inoperative, or modified so as to reduce its effectiveness or is not operating properly through lack of maintenance.

          (2) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, every person who drives on a highway a motor vehicle in which a safety belt assembly is provided for the driver shall wear the complete safety belt assembly in a properly adjusted and securely fastened manner.

          (3) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, every person who is a passenger on a highway in a motor vehicle in which a safety belt assembly is provided for the seating position occupied by that passenger shall wear the complete safety belt assembly in a properly adjusted and securely fastened manner.

          (4) Subsections (2) and (3) of this section do not apply to a person:

          (a) Driving a motor vehicle in reverse;

          (b) Who holds a certificate signed by a legally qualified medical practitioner certifying that the person is:

          (i) For the period stated in the certificate, unable for medical reasons to wear a safety belt assembly; or

          (ii) Because of the person's size, build, or other physical characteristic, unable to wear a safety belt assembly;

          (c) Who is actually engaged in work that requires the person to alight from and reenter a motor vehicle at frequent intervals and who, while engaged in that work, does not drive or travel in that vehicle at a speed exceeding twenty-five miles per hour; or

          (d) Secured in a child passenger restraint device approved by the state commission on equipment.

          (5) For the purposes of compliance with subsections (2) and (3) of this section, a person whose size, build, or other physical characteristic makes it unsafe for the person to wear the upper-body restraint portion of a safety belt assembly may wear only the lap-belt portion of the safety belt assembly and place the upper-body restraint portion of the belt behind him or her, if necessary.

          (6) Violation of this section is a traffic infraction subjecting the driver to a penalty assessment of twenty-five dollars for each vehicle occupant in violation of this section.