HOUSE BILL REPORT

SB 6295

BYSenators Garrett and Patterson

Updating the Model Traffic Ordinance.

House Committe on Transportation

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (21)

      Signed by Representatives Walk, Chair; Baugher, Vice Chair; Betrozoff, Cantwell, Cooper, Doty, Fisher, Fox, Gallagher, Hankins, Heavey, Jacobsen, Jones, Meyers, Patrick, Prince, D. Sommers, Todd, K. Wilson, S. Wilson and Zellinsky.

House Staff:Mary McLaughlin (786-7309)

AS PASSED HOUSE FEBRUARY 26, 1988

BACKGROUND:

The Washington Model Traffic Ordinance (MTO), enacted in 1975, is a listing of all state traffic laws which are applicable to a municipality, and can be adopted by reference by any local authority to serve as its local traffic ordinance.  A local authority may adopt the MTO in full or in part, and may at any time exclude any section or sections it does not wish to include in its local laws.  Three-fourths of the cities and twenty of the thirty-nine counties in the state subscribe to this service.

The purpose of this legislation is to incorporate into the MTO new legislative enactments that relate to the regulation of traffic and motor vehicles within a municipality.  Including these statutes by reference in the model allows cities, towns and counties which have adopted the MTO to enforce these laws without having to enact separate ordinances for each one.

If a municipality desires to implement a new traffic law prior to passage of the updated MTO, it must enact a local ordinance that is compatible with state law.

SUMMARY:

The Model Traffic Ordinance is updated to include traffic- related legislation passed during the 1987 legislative session:  (1) Making it a misdemeanor for a vehicle owner to permit an unauthorized person to drive his or her vehicle; (2) authorizing law enforcement to confiscate the vehicle registration certificate when arresting a person for driving without a valid driver's license and marking the license plates (effective 7-1-88); (3) making it a gross misdemeanor for anyone to assist a person in starting and operating a vehicle with an ignition interlock device; (4) establishing penalties for driving a motor vehicle when proof of financial responsibility has been required and not satisfied; (5) establishing standards relating to police impoundment of abandoned vehicles on private property; (6) providing authorization for the removal of a vehicle by law enforcement under specific circumstances; (7) allowing a nonresident receiving a traffic citation to use a credit card in lieu of posting bail, a bond or cash security for the amount of an infraction penalty.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Jim Justin, Association of Washington Cities.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    Updating the MTO brings city and county local traffic ordinances into compliance with state law.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.