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                       ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1174

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State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

By House Committee on Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Holland, Cole, Peery, Brumsickle, G. Fisher, Brough, Valle, Rasmussen, Phillips, Jones, Dorn, P. Johnson, Padden, Appelwick, Jacobsen, Winsley, Pruitt, Inslee, Ogden, Ballard, Wood, R. Johnson, Vance, Sheldon, Day, Spanel, Leonard, Broback, Paris, Rust, Scott, Haugen, Hine, Cantwell, Rayburn, Edmondson, Basich, Mitchell, Betrozoff, Nealey, Miller, Bowman, Moyer, Fraser, O'Brien, Sprenkle, Tate and McLean; by request of Task Force on Student Transp. Safety).

Read first time February 18, 1991.  Allowing school bus drivers to report drivers who fail to stop.

     AN ACT Relating to transportation safety; adding new sections to chapter 46.61 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 46.61 RCW to read as follows:

     If a law enforcement officer investigating a violation of RCW 46.61.370 has reasonable cause to believe that a violation has occurred, the officer may request the owner of the motor vehicle to supply information identifying the driver of the vehicle at the time the violation occurred.  When requested, the owner of the motor vehicle shall identify the driver to the best of the owner's ability.  The owner of the vehicle is not required to supply identification information to the law enforcement officer if the owner believes the information is self-incriminating.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 46.61 RCW to read as follows:

     (1) The driver of a school bus who observes a violation of RCW 46.61.370 may prepare a written report on a form provided by the state patrol or another law enforcement agency indicating that a violation has occurred.  The driver of the school bus or a school official may deliver the report to a law enforcement officer of the state, county, or municipality in which the violation occurred but not more than seventy-two hours after the violation occurred.  The driver shall include in the report the time and location at which the violation occurred, the vehicle license plate number, and a description of the vehicle involved in the violation.

     (2) The law enforcement officer shall initiate an investigation of the reported violation within ten working days after receiving the report described in subsection (1) of this section by contacting the owner of the motor vehicle involved in the reported violation and requesting the owner to supply information identifying the driver.  If, after an investigation, the law enforcement officer is able to identify the driver and has reasonable cause to believe a violation of RCW 46.61.370 has occurred, the law enforcement officer shall prepare a notice of traffic infraction and have it served upon the driver of the vehicle.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.      By December 1, 1991, the superintendent of public instruction shall review the current use of aides on special education buses and provide to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate recommended guidelines, with associated fiscal impacts, for increasing the use of aides on special education buses.