AN ACT Relating to commercial motor vehicle
inspection; amending RCW 46.32.010, 46.32.020, and 46.44.105; adding a new
section to chapter 46.32 RCW; and repealing RCW 46.44.100.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A
new section is added to chapter 46.32 RCW to read as follows:
For the purpose of this chapter
"commercial motor vehicle" means a self-propelled or towed vehicle
designed or used to transport passengers or property, if the vehicle:
(1) Has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross
combination weight rating of ten thousand one or more pounds;
(2) Is designed to transport sixteen or more
passengers, including the driver; or
(3) Is transporting hazardous materials and is
required to be identified by a placard in accordance with 49 C.F.R. Sec.
172.500-.560 (1991).
A recreational vehicle used for noncommercial
purposes is not considered a commercial motor vehicle. "Recreational
vehicle" includes a vehicle towing a horse trailer for a noncommercial
purpose.
Sec. 2.
RCW 46.32.010 and 1986 c 123 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The chief of the Washington state patrol
may operate, maintain, or designate, throughout the state of Washington,
stations for the inspection of school buses and private carrier buses, with
respect to vehicle equipment, drivers' qualifications, and hours of service and
to set reasonable times when inspection of vehicles shall be performed.
(2) ((The inspection of private, common, and
contract carriers with respect to vehicle equipment, drivers' qualifications,
and hours of service shall be done in conjunction with weight enforcement under
RCW 46.44.100)) The state patrol may inspect a commercial motor vehicle
while the vehicle is operating on the public highways of this state with
respect to vehicle equipment, hours of service, and driver qualifications.
(3) It is unlawful for any vehicle required to
be inspected to be operated over the public highways of this state unless and
until it has been approved periodically as to equipment.
(4) Inspections shall be performed by a
responsible employee of the chief of the Washington state patrol, who shall be
duly authorized and who shall have authority to secure and withhold, with
written notice to the director of licensing, the certificate of license registration
and license plates of any vehicle found to be defective in equipment so as to
be unsafe or unfit to be operated upon the highways of this state, and it shall
be unlawful for any person to operate such vehicle unless and until it has been
placed in a condition satisfactory to pass a subsequent equipment inspection.
The police officer in charge of such vehicle equipment inspection shall grant
to the operator of such defective vehicle the privilege to move such vehicle to
a place for repair under such restrictions as may be reasonably necessary.
(5) In the event any insignia, sticker, or
other marker is adopted to be displayed upon vehicles in connection with the
inspection of vehicle equipment, it shall be displayed as required by the rules
of the chief of the Washington state patrol, and it is a traffic infraction for
any person to mutilate, destroy, remove, or otherwise interfere with the
display thereof.
(6) It is a traffic infraction for any person
to refuse to have his motor vehicle examined as required by the chief of the
Washington state patrol, or, after having had it examined, to refuse to place
an insignia, sticker, or other marker, if issued, upon the vehicle, or
fraudulently to obtain any such insignia, sticker, or other marker, or to refuse
to place his motor vehicle in proper condition after having had it examined, or
in any manner, to fail to conform to the provisions of this chapter.
(7) It is a traffic infraction for any person
to perform false or improvised repairs, or repairs in any manner not in
accordance with acceptable and customary repair practices, upon a motor
vehicle.
Sec. 3.
RCW 46.32.020 and 1986 c 123 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
The chief of the Washington state patrol may
adopt reasonable rules regarding types of vehicles to be inspected, inspection
criteria, times for the inspection of vehicle equipment, drivers'
qualifications, hours of service, and all other matters with respect to the
conduct of vehicle equipment and driver inspections.
The chief of the Washington state patrol shall
prepare and furnish such stickers, tags, record and report forms, stationery,
and other supplies as shall be deemed necessary. The chief of the Washington
state patrol is empowered to appoint and employ such assistants as he may
consider necessary and to fix hours of employment and compensation.
Sec. 4.
RCW 46.44.105 and 1990 c 217 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Violation of any of the provisions of RCW 46.44.041,
46.44.042, 46.44.047, 46.44.090, 46.44.091, and 46.44.095, or failure to obtain
a permit as provided by RCW 46.44.090 and 46.44.095, or misrepresentation of
the size or weight of any load or failure to follow the requirements and
conditions of a permit issued hereunder is a traffic infraction, and upon the
first finding thereof shall be assessed a basic penalty of not less than fifty
dollars; and upon a second finding thereof shall be assessed a basic penalty of
not less than seventy-five dollars; and upon a third or subsequent finding
shall be assessed a basic penalty of not less than one hundred dollars.
(2) In addition to the penalties imposed in
subsection (1) of this section, any person violating RCW 46.44.041, 46.44.042,
46.44.047, 46.44.090, 46.44.091, or 46.44.095 shall be assessed three cents for
each pound of excess weight. Upon a first violation in any calendar year, the
court may suspend the penalty for five hundred pounds of excess weight for each
axle on any vehicle or combination of vehicles, not to exceed a two thousand
pound suspension. In no case may the basic penalty assessed in subsection (1)
of this section be suspended.
(3) Whenever any vehicle or combination of
vehicles is involved in two violations of RCW 46.44.041, 46.44.042, 46.44.047,
46.44.090, 46.44.091, or 46.44.095 during any twelve-month period, the court
may suspend the certificate of license registration of the vehicle or
combination of vehicles for not less than thirty days. Upon a third or
succeeding violation in any twelve-month period, the court shall suspend the
certificate of license registration for not less than thirty days. Whenever
the certificate of license registration is suspended, the court shall secure
such certificate and immediately forward the same to the director with
information concerning the suspension.
(4) Any person found to have violated any
posted limitations of a highway or section of highway shall be assessed a
monetary penalty of not less than one hundred and fifty dollars, and the court
shall in addition thereto upon second violation within a twelve-month period
involving the same power unit, suspend the certificate of license registration
for not less than thirty days.
(5) It is unlawful for the driver of a
vehicle to fail or refuse to stop and submit the vehicle and load to a
weighing, or to fail or refuse, when directed by an officer upon a weighing of
the vehicle to stop the vehicle and otherwise comply with the provisions of
this section. It is unlawful for a driver of a commercial motor vehicle as
defined in section 1 of this act, other than the driver of a bus as defined in
section 1(2) of this act, to fail or refuse to stop at a weighing station when
proper traffic control signs indicate scales are open.
Any police officer is authorized to require the
driver of any vehicle or combination of vehicles to stop and submit to a
weighing either by means of a portable or stationary scale and may require that
the vehicle be driven to the nearest public scale. Whenever a police officer,
upon weighing a vehicle and load, determines that the weight is unlawful, the
officer may require the driver to stop the vehicle in a suitable location and
remain standing until such portion of the load is removed as may be necessary
to reduce the gross weight of the vehicle to the limit permitted by law. If
the vehicle is loaded with grain or other perishable commodities, the driver
shall be permitted to proceed without removing any of the load, unless the
gross weight of the vehicle and load exceeds by more than ten percent the limit
permitted by this chapter. The owner or operator of the vehicle shall care for
all materials unloaded at the risk of the owner or operator.
Any vehicle whose driver or owner represents
that the vehicle is disabled or otherwise unable to proceed to a weighing
location shall have its load sealed or otherwise marked by any police officer.
The owner or driver shall be directed that upon completion of repairs, the
vehicle shall submit to weighing with the load and markings and/or seal intact
and undisturbed. Failure to report for weighing, appearing for weighing with
the seal broken or the markings disturbed, or removal of any cargo prior to
weighing is unlawful. Any person so convicted shall be fined five hundred
dollars, and in addition the certificate of license registration shall be
suspended for not less than thirty days.
(6) Any other provision of law to the contrary
notwithstanding, district courts having venue have concurrent jurisdiction with
the superior courts for the imposition of any penalties authorized under this
section.
(7) For the purpose of determining additional
penalties as provided by subsection (2) of this section, "excess
weight" means the poundage in excess of the maximum gross weight
prescribed by RCW 46.44.041 and 46.44.042 plus the weights allowed by RCW
46.44.047, 46.44.091, and 46.44.095.
(8) The penalties provided in subsections (1)
and (2) of this section shall be remitted as provided in chapter 3.62 RCW or
RCW 10.82.070. For the purpose of computing the basic penalties and additional
penalties to be imposed under the provisions of subsections (1) and (2) of this
section the convictions shall be on the same vehicle or combination of vehicles
within a twelve-month period under the same ownership.
(9) Any state patrol officer or any weight
control officer who finds any person operating a vehicle or a combination of
vehicles in violation of the conditions of a permit issued under RCW 46.44.047,
46.44.090, and 46.44.095 may confiscate the permit and forward it to the state
department of transportation which may return it to the permittee or revoke,
cancel, or suspend it without refund. The department of transportation shall
keep a record of all action taken upon permits so confiscated, and if a permit
is returned to the permittee the action taken by the department of
transportation shall be endorsed thereon. Any permittee whose permit is
suspended or revoked may upon request receive a hearing before the department
of transportation or person designated by that department. After the hearing
the department of transportation may reinstate any permit or revise its
previous action.
Every permit issued as provided for in this
chapter shall be carried in the vehicle or combination of vehicles to which it
refers and shall be open to inspection by any law enforcement officer or
authorized agent of any authority granting such a permit.
Upon the third finding within a calendar year
of a violation of the requirements and conditions of a permit issued under RCW
46.44.095 as now or hereafter amended, the permit shall be canceled, and the
canceled permit shall be immediately transmitted by the court or the arresting
officer to the department of transportation. The vehicle covered by the
canceled permit is not eligible for a new permit for a period of thirty days.
(10) For the purposes of determining gross
weights the actual scale weight taken by the arresting officer is prima facie
evidence of the total gross weight.
(11) It is a traffic infraction to direct the
loading of a vehicle with knowledge that it violates the requirements in RCW
46.44.041, 46.44.042, 46.44.047, 46.44.090, 46.44.091, or 46.44.095 and that it
is to be operated on the public highways of this state.
(12) The chief of the state patrol, with the
advice of the department, may adopt reasonable rules to aid in the enforcement
of this section.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.
RCW 46.44.100 and 1971 ex.s. c 148 s 2, 1967 c 32 s 52, & 1961 c 12 s
46.44.100 are each repealed.
