AN ACT Relating to
access to accident reports; amending RCW 46.52.030 and 46.52.130; prescribing
penalties; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 46.52.030 and 1989 c
353 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The driver of any
vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person
or damage to the property of any one person to an apparent extent equal to or
greater than the minimum amount established by rule adopted by the chief of the
Washington state patrol in accordance with subsection (5) of this section,
shall, within twenty-four hours after such accident, make a written report of
such accident to the chief of police of the city or town if such accident
occurred within an incorporated city or town or the county sheriff or state
patrol if such accident occurred outside incorporated cities and towns.
Nothing in this subsection prohibits accident reports from being filed by
drivers where damage to property is less than the minimum amount.
(2) The original of ((such))
the report shall be immediately forwarded by the authority receiving ((such))
the report to the chief of the Washington state patrol at Olympia,
Washington((, and the second copy of such report to be forwarded to)).
The Washington state patrol shall give the department of licensing ((at
Olympia, Washington)) full access to the report.
(3) Any law enforcement
officer who investigates an accident for which a driver's report is required
under subsection (1) of this section shall submit an investigator's report as
required by RCW 46.52.070.
(4) The chief of the
Washington state patrol may require any driver of any vehicle involved in an
accident, of which report must be made as provided in this section, to file
supplemental reports whenever the original report in his opinion is
insufficient, and may likewise require witnesses of any such accident to render
reports. For this purpose, the chief of the Washington state patrol shall
prepare and, upon request, supply to any police department, coroner, sheriff,
and any other suitable agency or individual, sample forms of accident reports
required hereunder, which reports shall be upon a form devised by the chief of
the Washington state patrol and shall call for sufficiently detailed
information to disclose all material facts with reference to the accident to be
reported thereon, including the location, the cause, the conditions then
existing, the persons and vehicles involved, the insurance information required
under RCW 46.30.030, personal injury or death, if any, the amounts of property
damage claimed, the total number of vehicles involved, whether the vehicles
were legally parked, legally standing, or moving, and whether such vehicles
were occupied at the time of the accident. Every required accident report
shall be made on a form prescribed by the chief of the Washington state patrol
and each authority charged with the duty of receiving such reports shall
provide sufficient report forms in compliance with the form devised. The
report forms shall be designated so as to provide that a copy may be retained
by the reporting person.
(5) The chief of the
Washington state patrol shall adopt rules establishing the accident-reporting
threshold for property damage accidents. Beginning October 1, 1987, the
accident-reporting threshold for property damage accidents shall be five
hundred dollars. The accident-reporting threshold for property damage
accidents shall be revised when necessary, but not more frequently than every
two years. The revisions shall only be for the purpose of recognizing economic
changes as reflected by an inflationary index recommended by the office of
financial management. The revisions shall be guided by the change in the index
for the time period since the last revision.
Sec. 2. RCW 46.52.130 and 1994 c
275 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:
A certified abstract of
the driving record shall be furnished only to the individual named in the
abstract, an employer or prospective employer or an agent acting on behalf
of an employer or prospective employer, the insurance carrier that has
insurance in effect covering the employer or a prospective employer, the
insurance carrier that has insurance in effect covering the named individual,
the insurance carrier to which the named individual has applied, an
alcohol/drug assessment or treatment agency approved by the department of
social and health services, to which the named individual has applied or been
assigned for evaluation or treatment, or city and county prosecuting
attorneys. City attorneys and county prosecuting attorneys may provide the driving
record to alcohol/drug assessment or treatment agencies approved by the
department of social and health services to which the named individual has
applied or been assigned for evaluation or treatment. The director, upon
proper request, shall furnish a certified abstract covering the period of not
more than the last three years to insurance companies. Upon proper request,
the director shall furnish a certified abstract covering a period of not more
than the last five years to state approved alcohol/drug assessment or treatment
agencies, except that the certified abstract shall also include records of
alcohol-related offenses as defined in RCW 46.01.260(2) covering a period of
not more than the last ten years. Upon proper request, a certified abstract of
the full driving record maintained by the department shall be furnished to a
city or county prosecuting attorney, to the individual named in the abstract or
to an employer or prospective employer or an agent acting on behalf of an
employer or prospective employer of the named individual. The abstract,
whenever possible, shall include an enumeration of motor vehicle accidents in
which the person was driving; the total number of vehicles involved; whether
the vehicles were legally parked or moving; whether the vehicles were occupied
at the time of the accident; any reported convictions, forfeitures of bail, or
findings that an infraction was committed based upon a violation of any motor
vehicle law; and the status of the person's driving privilege in this state.
The enumeration shall include any reports of failure to appear in response to a
traffic citation or failure to respond to a notice of infraction served upon
the named individual by an arresting officer. Certified abstracts furnished to
prosecutors and alcohol/drug assessment or treatment agencies shall also
indicate whether a recorded violation is an alcohol-related offense as defined
in RCW 46.01.260(2) that was originally charged as one of the alcohol-related
offenses designated in RCW 46.01.260(2)(a)(i).
The abstract provided
to the insurance company shall exclude any information, except that related to
the commission of misdemeanors or felonies by the individual, pertaining to law
enforcement officers or fire fighters as defined in RCW 41.26.030, or any
officer of the Washington state patrol, while driving official vehicles in the
performance of occupational duty. The abstract provided to the insurance
company shall exclude any deferred prosecution under RCW 10.05.060, except that
if a person is removed from a deferred prosecution under RCW 10.05.090, the
abstract shall show the deferred prosecution as well as the removal.
The director shall
collect for each abstract the sum of four dollars and fifty cents which shall
be deposited in the highway safety fund.
Any insurance company
or its agent receiving the certified abstract shall use it exclusively for its
own underwriting purposes and shall not divulge any of the information
contained in it to a third party. No policy of insurance may be canceled,
nonrenewed, denied, or have the rate increased on the basis of such information
unless the policyholder was determined to be at fault. No insurance company or
its agent for underwriting purposes relating to the operation of commercial
motor vehicles may use any information contained in the abstract relative to
any person's operation of motor vehicles while not engaged in such employment,
nor may any insurance company or its agent for underwriting purposes relating
to the operation of noncommercial motor vehicles use any information contained
in the abstract relative to any person's operation of commercial motor
vehicles.
Any employer or
prospective employer or an agent acting on behalf of an employer or
prospective employer receiving the certified abstract shall use it
exclusively for his or her own purpose to determine whether the licensee should
be permitted to operate a commercial vehicle or school bus upon the public
highways of this state and shall not divulge any information contained in it to
a third party.
Any alcohol/drug
assessment or treatment agency approved by the department of social and health
services receiving the certified abstract shall use it exclusively for the
purpose of assisting its employees in making a determination as to what level
of treatment, if any, is appropriate. The agency, or any of its employees,
shall not divulge any information contained in the abstract to a third party.
Release of a
certified abstract of the driving record of an employee or prospective employee
requires a statement signed by: (1) The employee or prospective employee that
authorizes the release of the record, and (2) the employer attesting that the
information is necessary to determine whether the licensee should be employed
to operate a commercial vehicle or school bus upon the public highways of this
state. If the employer or prospective employer authorizes an agent to obtain
this information on their behalf, this must be noted in the statement.
Any violation of this
section is a gross misdemeanor.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. This act takes effect
July 1, 1996.
