WSR 14-17-106 PERMANENT RULES WASHINGTON STATE PATROL [Filed August 19, 2014, 1:49 p.m., effective September 19, 2014] Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: The proposed changes would amend the definition for construction and maintenance vehicles to capture the public construction vehicles being used by entities such as the Washington state department of transportation so that they may use amber emergency lights as outlined under this section. The proposed changes may also include cleanup to the lighting requirements for school buses and provide other cleanup to the language in the chapter.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 204-21-020 and 204-21-210.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 46.37.005.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 14-14-018 on June 23, 2014.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: August 6, 2014.
John R. Batiste
Chief
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 10-19-074, filed 9/16/10, effective 10/17/10)
WAC 204-21-020 Definitions.
(1) "Agricultural equipment" means any farm vehicle required by RCW 46.37.160 to have hazard warning lamps.
(2) "Animal control vehicle" means any vehicle, either publicly or privately owned, which is used primarily for transportation of animals to or from animal shelters, humane society facilities, or veterinary medicine facilities.
(3) "Authorized emergency vehicle" ((means any vehicle of any fire department, police department, sheriff's office, coroner, prosecuting attorney, Washington state patrol, ambulance service, public or private, licensed by the department of social and health services or operated by any of the agencies named above, or any other vehicle authorized in writing by the state patrol)) will have the same meaning as RCW 46.04.040 except that any vehicle of any federal law enforcement entity will also be considered as an authorized emergency vehicle that need not be classified, registered, or authorized by the patrol.
(4) "C.F.R." means the Code of Federal Regulations.
(5) "Deceleration warning light," excluding stop lamps, means a device that indicates to a following driver the deceleration of the vehicle ahead.
(6) "Electronic light modulation" means the periodic change in intensity of light, controlled by an all electric modulating device in the electrical circuit of the lighting system.
(7) "Electronic modulation" means using one hundred percent electronic circuitry instead of mechanical metallic switches.
(8) "Emergency tow truck" means a motor vehicle that is especially designed and constructed principally for the purpose of recovery and/or towing of disabled, abandoned or damaged vehicles and not otherwise generally used in transporting goods or persons.
(9) "Flashing" means any lamp which emits a beam of light which is broken intermittently and regularly by use of an electronic or electric switch, a rotating reflector, a rotating lamp, or a strobe lamp; or a lamp which emits a steady beam of light which is intermittently and regularly directed away from any viewer by means of a rotating or oscillating reflector or lamp assembly. Flashing lamps are not to be confused with modulated lamps which intermittently and regularly decrease the power to the lamp filament so as to dim the light output but do not cause a total break in the light beam.
(10) "FMVSS" means the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards 49 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) Part 571.
(11) "Hazardous materials response team vehicle" means any vehicle either publicly or privately owned which is used for responding to hazardous materials incidents.
(12) "Headlamp flashing system" means an automatic method for controlling the high beams from the headlamps so that they can be alternately flashed in sequence on opposite sides of the front of the vehicle as a warning signal.
(13) "Industrial equipment" means any vehicle which is authorized to use amber lamps under WAC 204-21-130 for the purpose of landscaping, construction services, loading, digging, grounds keeping, and highway maintenance.
(14) "Law enforcement agency" means any municipal, port district or tribal police department, county police department or sheriff's office, the Washington state patrol, or any other state or federal agency which is publicly authorized to carry out law enforcement duties which include the authority to stop and detain motor vehicles on the public highways of this state.
(15) "Law enforcement vehicle" means a publicly owned or leased vehicle operated by a law enforcement agency and which is used for the law enforcement functions of the agency.
(16) "Other construction and maintenance vehicle" means any vehicle owned or operated by a public agency or private company which is in the process of providing highway construction or maintenance services or is working in conjunction with any public utility.
(17) "Oversize unit" means any vehicle towing a load that exceeds legal dimensions which may be equipped with flashing amber lights in addition to any other lights required by law.
(18) "Percent modulation" equals time-weighted power input with modulation to headlamp divided by time-weighted power input without modulation to headlamp times one hundred.
(19) "Pilot car" means any vehicle which is used to provide escort for overlegal size loads upon the roadways of this state.
(20) "Private carrier bus" means every motor vehicle designed for the purpose of carrying passengers (having a seating capacity for eleven or more persons) used regularly to transport persons in furtherance of any organized agricultural, religious or charitable purpose. Such term does not include buses operated by common carriers under a franchise granted by any city or town or the Washington public utilities commission.
(21) "Public utilities vehicle" means any vehicle used for construction, operations, and maintenance, and which is owned or operated by a public or private utility, including, but not limited to, companies providing water, electricity, natural gas, telephone, television cable services, and railroads.
(22) "Rural newspaper carrier vehicle" means any vehicle driven on rural roads by carriers delivering newspapers on their route.
(23) "SAE" means the Society of Automotive Engineers. Copies of SAE Standards are available for review at the Washington State Patrol, P.O. Box 42600, Olympia, WA 98504-2600, and may also be ordered from the Society of Automotive Engineers International, 400 Commonwealth Drive, Warrendale, PA 15096-0001.
(24) "Search and rescue team vehicle" means any vehicle either publicly or privately owned which is used for responding to search and rescue situations.
(25) "Signal lamps" means red lamps mounted on the vehicle to be used in conjunction with the "stop signal" when the bus is loading or unloading passengers under certain conditions.
(26) "Tow truck" means any vehicle engaged in removing disabled or abandoned vehicles from the roadway and which is used primarily for that purpose.
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 12-03-084, filed 1/13/12, effective 2/13/12)
WAC 204-21-210 Bus hazard warning strobe lamp.
All bus hazard warning strobe lamps must meet the Class 2 requirements of SAE Standard J1318, and may only be used as follows:
(1) School buses may be equipped with a single additional hazard strobe lamp in addition to the eight lamp warning system. Such lamps must:
(a) Be mounted on the centerline of the roof in the rear one-half of the bus.
(b) Be clear and less than eight inches in height.
(c) Not be mounted any closer than six feet from the rear of the bus measured from a vertical plane tangent to the rearmost point of the bus body. However((:
(i))), if the bus is equipped with a roof hatch falling within ((the above mentioned measurements)) six feet of the rear of the bus, the strobe lamp may be located directly behind the roof hatch.
(((ii) If the bus has a clear lens strobe lamp, less than eight inches in height, it may be mounted on the centerline of the roof in the rear one-half of the bus.
(b))) (d) Be activated by a switch independent of all other lamp switches. This switch must be plainly labeled and have a pilot lamp that must indicate when the lamp is in operation.
(((c))) (e) Only be used when the bus is occupied with school children and one or more of the following conditions exists:
(i) The bus is in motion in inclement, sight obscuring conditions, including but not limited to rain, fog, snow, and smoke;
(ii) There is a need to improve the visibility of the bus when stopping, standing, or starting onto a highway;
(iii) There is limited visibility caused by geographic hazards such as winding roadways, hills, trees, buildings, etc.
The strobe lamp ((shall)) must not be activated solely because of darkness.
(2) Municipal transit vehicles (as defined in RCW 46.04.355) may be equipped with a single additional hazard strobe lamp. Such lamps:
(a) May be mounted on the centerline of the roof in the rear one-half of the bus so long as the lamp is clear and less than eight inches in height.
(b) Be activated by a switch independent of all other lamp switches. The hazard strobe lamp switch must be plainly labeled and have a pilot lamp that must indicate when the lamp is in operation.
(c) Only be used when the bus is occupied with passengers and one or more of the following conditions exists:
(i) The bus is in motion in inclement, sight obscuring conditions, including but not limited to rain, fog, snow, and smoke;
(ii) There is a need to improve the visibility of the bus when stopping, standing, or starting onto a highway;
(iii) There is limited visibility caused by geographic hazards, such as winding roadways, hills, trees, etc.
The strobe lamp must not be activated solely because of darkness.
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