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                         SECOND ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL 1130

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State of Washington              54th Legislature             1995 Regular Session

By Representatives Crouse, Dellwo, Padden, Brown, Silver, Johnson, McMorris, Elliot, Stevens, Koster and Schoesler

Read first time 01/13/95.  Referred to Committee on Transportation.

Restricting the ringing of bells or sounding of whistles on locomotives.

     AN ACT Relating to railroads; amending RCW 81.48.010; and creating a new section.

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

     Sec. 1.  RCW 81.48.010 and 1961 c 14 s 81.48.010 are each amended to read as follows:

     Every engineer driving a locomotive on any railway who shall fail to ring the bell or sound the whistle upon such locomotive, or cause the same to be rung or sounded at least eighty rods from any place where such railway crosses a traveled road or street on the same level (except in cities, or in counties that enact ordinances applying only to crossings equipped with supplemental safety measures as provided in section 2 of this act), or to continue the ringing of such bell or sounding of such whistle until such locomotive shall have crossed such road or street, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  (1) The legislature hereby authorizes cities and counties to enact ordinances limiting or prohibiting the sounding of locomotive horns, provided the ordinance applies only at crossings equipped with supplemental safety measures.  A supplemental safety measure is a safety device defined in P.L. 103-440, section 20153(a)(3), as that law existed on November 2, 1994.  A supplemental safety measure that prevents careless movement over the crossing (e.g., as where adequate median barriers prevent movement around crossing gates extending over the full width of the lanes in a particular direction of travel), shall be deemed to conform to those standards required under P.L. 103-440 unless specifically rejected by emergency order issued by the United States secretary of the department of transportation.

     (2) Prior to enacting the ordinance, the cities and counties shall provide written notification to the railroad companies affected by the proposed ordinance, and to the state utilities and transportation commission, for the purpose of providing an opportunity to comment on the proposed ordinance.

     (3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the state's power, guaranteed by the tenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, to enact laws necessary for the health, safety, or welfare of the people of the state of Washington.

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