AN ACT Relating to traffic safety education; amending RCW 43.59.010, 46.61.750, 46.20.095, 46.82.430, 46.83.040, 46.20.305, 46.37.280, and 46.61.780; adding new sections to chapter 43.59 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 46.20 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. This act may be known and cited as the Cooper Jones Act.

Sec. 2. RCW 43.59.010 and 1967 ex.s. c 147 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The purpose of this chapter is to establish a new agency of state government to be known as the Washington traffic safety commission. The functions and purpose of this commission shall be to find solutions to the problems that have been created as a result of the tremendous increase of motor vehicles on our highways and the attendant traffic death and accident tolls; to plan and supervise programs for the prevention of accidents on streets and highways including but not limited to educational campaigns designed to reduce traffic accidents in cooperation with all official and unofficial organizations interested in traffic safety; to coordinate the activities at the state and local level in the development of state-wide and local traffic safety programs; to promote a uniform enforcement of traffic safety laws and establish standards for investigation and reporting of traffic accidents; to promote and improve driver education; and to authorize the governor to perform all functions required to be performed by him under the federal Highway Safety Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-564; 80 Stat. 731).

(2) The legislature finds and declares that bicycling and walking are becoming increasingly popular in Washington as clean and efficient modes of transportation, as recreational activities, and as organized sports. Future plans for the state's transportation system will require increased access and safety for bicycles and pedestrians on our common roadways, and federal transportation legislation and funding programs have created strong incentives to implement these changes quickly. As a result, many more people are likely to take up bicycling in Washington both as a leisure activity and as a convenient, inexpensive form of transportation. Bicyclists are more vulnerable to injury and accident than motorists, and should be as knowledgeable as possible about traffic laws, be highly visible and predictable when riding in traffic, and be encouraged to wear bicycle safety helmets. Hundreds of bicyclists and pedestrians are seriously injured every year in accidents, and millions of dollars are spent on health care costs associated with these accidents. There is clear evidence that organized training in the rules and techniques of safe and effective cycling can significantly reduce the incidence of serious injury and accidents, increase cooperation among road users, and significantly increase the incidence of bicycle helmet use, particularly among minors.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 43.59 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The Washington state traffic safety commission shall establish a program for improving bicycle and pedestrian safety, and shall cooperate with the state criminal justice training commission, bicycle federation of America, the league of American bicyclists, state and local bicycling organizations, local governments, public school districts, or other appropriate public and private organizations in developing and operating programs to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety.

(2) The commission shall prescribe minimum qualifications for the grant recipients.

(3) The commission will form an advisory group of bicycle and pedestrian safety stakeholders to assist the director in:

(a) Establishing standards and criteria for traffic safety grants and reviewing the merits of grant applications submitted;

(b) Determining the most effective programs available to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety; and

(4) Upon successful completion of a safety training program, participants will receive a bicycle or pedestrian safety education certificate signed by an authorized instructor. The certificate is evidence of compliance with this section.

Sec. 4. RCW 46.61.750 and 1982 c 55 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) It is a traffic infraction for any person to do any act forbidden or fail to perform any act required in RCW 46.61.750 through 46.61.780.

(2) These regulations applicable to bicycles apply whenever a bicycle is operated upon any highway or upon any bicycle path, subject to those exceptions stated herein. A person found to have committed any infraction under subsection (1) of this section shall be assessed a monetary penalty equal to the penalty assessed under RCW 46.63.110 plus twenty-five percent.

(3) The bicycle and pedestrian safety education account is created in the state treasury. Twenty-five percent of the moneys collected under subsection (2) of this section shall be deposited into the account. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account may be used only for the administration and operation of programs to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety.

(4) State agencies, political subdivisions of the state, and nonprofit organizations, including but not limited to bicycling groups and community and civic organizations, are eligible for grant funds on a matching basis under the programs funded under subsection (3) of this section. All entities receiving matching funds must provide a regularly scheduled program complying with standards established by the traffic safety commission. Bicycle organizations are encouraged to make donations to the bicycle and pedestrian safety education account.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 43.59 RCW to read as follows:

The traffic safety commission, acting jointly with the department of licensing and the superintendent of public instruction, shall develop a curriculum for bicycle safety education. The commission may develop a video presentation to accompany this curriculum.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 46.20 RCW to read as follows:

The department of licensing shall incorporate a section on bicycle safety and sharing the road into its instructional publications for drivers and shall include questions in the written portion of the driver's license examination on bicycle safety and sharing the road with bicycles.

Sec. 7. RCW 46.20.095 and 1986 c 93 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

The department shall include information on the proper use of the left-hand lane by motor vehicles on multilane highways and on bicyclists' and pedestrians' rights and responsibilities in its instructional publications for drivers.

Sec. 8. RCW 46.82.430 and 1986 c 93 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

Instructional material used in driver training schools shall include information on the proper use of the left-hand lane by motor vehicles on multilane highways and on bicyclists' and pedestrians' rights and responsibilities and suggested riding procedures in common traffic situations.

Sec. 9. RCW 46.83.040 and 1961 c 12 s 46.83.040 are each amended to read as follows:

It shall be the purpose of every traffic school which may be established hereunder to instruct, educate, and inform all persons appearing for training in the proper, lawful, and safe operation of motor vehicles, including but not limited to rules of the road and the limitations of persons, vehicles, and bicycles and roads, streets, and highways under varying conditions and circumstances.

Sec. 10. RCW 46.20.305 and 1965 ex.s. c 121 s 26 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department, having good cause to believe that a licensed driver is incompetent or otherwise not qualified to be licensed may upon notice require him to submit to an examination.

(2) The department shall require the driver of any vehicle responsible for a crash resulting in the death of a person to submit to an examination. The examination must be completed no later than ninety days after the accident report required under RCW 46.52.030 is received by the department.

(3) The department may in addition to an examination under subsection (1) or (2) of this section require such person to obtain a certificate showing his condition signed by a licensed physician or other proper authority designated by the department.

(4) Upon the conclusion of ((~~such~~)) an examination under this section the department shall take driver improvement action as may be appropriate and may suspend or revoke the license of such person or permit him to retain such license, or may issue a license subject to restrictions as permitted under RCW 46.20.041. The department may suspend or revoke the license of such person who refuses or neglects to submit to such examination.

(5) The department may require payment of a fee by a person subject to examination under this section. The department shall set the fee in an amount that is sufficient to cover the additional cost of administering examinations required by this section.

Sec. 11. RCW 46.37.280 and 1987 c 330 s 713 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) During the times specified in RCW 46.37.020, any lighted lamp or illuminating device upon a motor vehicle, other than head lamps, spot lamps, auxiliary lamps, flashing turn signals, emergency vehicle warning lamps, warning lamps authorized by the state patrol and school bus warning lamps, which projects a beam of light of an intensity greater than three hundred candlepower shall be so directed that no part of the high intensity portion of the beam will strike the level of the roadway on which the vehicle stands at a distance of more than seventy-five feet from the vehicle.

(2) Except as required in RCW 46.37.190 no person shall drive or move any vehicle or equipment upon any highway with any lamp or device thereon displaying a red light visible from directly in front of the center thereof.

(3) Flashing lights are prohibited except as required in RCW 46.37.190, 46.37.200, 46.37.210, 46.37.215, and 46.37.300, ((~~and~~)) warning lamps authorized by the state patrol, and light-emitting diode flashing taillights on bicycles.

Sec. 12. RCW 46.61.780 and 1987 c 330 s 746 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Every bicycle when in use during the hours of darkness as defined in RCW 46.37.020 shall be equipped with a lamp on the front which shall emit a white light visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the front and with a red reflector on the rear of a type approved by the state patrol which shall be visible from all distances ((~~from one hundred feet~~)) up to six hundred feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful lower beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle. A lamp emitting a red light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear may be used in addition to the red reflector. A light-emitting diode flashing taillight visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear may also be used in addition to the red reflector.

(2) Every bicycle shall be equipped with a brake which will enable the operator to make the braked wheels skid on dry, level, clean pavement.