CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT

SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5470

Chapter 80, Laws of 1997

55th Legislature

1997 Regular Session

PASSING STOPPED SCHOOL BUSES--INCREASING PENALTIES

EFFECTIVE DATE: 7/27/97

Passed by the Senate March 13, 1997

YEAS 48 NAYS 0

BRAD OWEN

President of the Senate

Passed by the House April 9, 1997

YEAS 98 NAYS 0

CERTIFICATE

I, Mike O=Connell, Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5470 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth.

CLYDE BALLARD

Speaker of the

House of Representatives

MIKE O'CONNELL

Secretary

Approved April 19, 1997

FILED

April 19, 1997 - 10:51 a.m.

GARY LOCKE

Governor of the State of Washington

Secretary of State

State of Washington

AN ACT Relating to passing school buses; amending RCW 46.61.370, 46.61.440, and 46.37.193; and prescribing penalties.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 46.61.370 and 1990 c 241 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The driver of a vehicle upon overtaking or meeting from either direction any school bus which has stopped on the roadway for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children shall stop the vehicle before reaching such school bus when there is in operation on said school bus a visual signal as specified in RCW 46.37.190 and said driver shall not proceed until such school bus resumes motion or the visual signals are no longer activated.

(2) The driver of a vehicle upon a highway divided into separate roadways as provided in RCW 46.61.150 need not stop upon meeting a school bus which is proceeding in the opposite direction and is stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging school children.

(3) The driver of a vehicle upon a highway with three or more marked traffic lanes need not stop upon meeting a school bus which is proceeding in the opposite direction and is stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging school children.

(4) The driver of a school bus shall actuate the visual signals required by RCW 46.37.190 only when such bus is stopped on the roadway for the purpose of receiving or discharging school children.

(5) The driver of a school bus may stop completely off the roadway for the purpose of receiving or discharging school children only when the school children do not have to cross the roadway. The school bus driver shall actuate the hazard warning lamps as defined in RCW 46.37.215 before loading or unloading school children at such stops.

(6) A person found to have committed an infraction of subsection (1) of this section shall be assessed a monetary penalty equal to twice the total penalty assessed under RCW 46.63.110. This penalty may not be waived, reduced, or suspended. Fifty percent of the money so collected shall be deposited into the school zone safety account in the custody of the state treasurer and disbursed in accordance with RCW 46.61.440(3).

Sec. 2. RCW 46.61.440 and 1996 c 114 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Subject to RCW 46.61.400(1), and except in those instances where a lower maximum lawful speed is provided by this chapter or otherwise, it shall be unlawful for the operator of any vehicle to operate the same at a speed in excess of twenty miles per hour when operating any vehicle upon a highway either inside or outside an incorporated city or town when passing any marked school or playground crosswalk when such marked crosswalk is fully posted with standard school speed limit signs or standard playground speed limit signs. The speed zone at the crosswalk shall extend three hundred feet in either direction from the marked crosswalk.

(2) A person found to have committed any infraction relating to speed restrictions within a school or playground speed zone shall be assessed a monetary penalty equal to twice the penalty assessed under RCW 46.63.110. This penalty may not be waived, reduced, or suspended.

(3) The school zone safety account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. Fifty percent of the moneys collected under subsection (2) of this section shall be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only by the Washington traffic safety commission solely to fund projects in local communities to improve school zone safety, pupil transportation safety, and student safety in school bus loading and unloading areas. Only the director of the traffic safety commission or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for expenditures until July 1, 1999, after which date moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation.

Sec. 3. RCW 46.37.193 and 1995 c 141 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

Every school bus and private carrier bus, in addition to any other equipment or distinctive markings required by this chapter, shall bear upon the front and rear thereof, above the windows thereof, plainly visible signs containing only the words "school bus" on a school bus and only the words "private carrier bus" on a private carrier bus in letters not less than eight inches in height, and in addition shall be equipped with visual signals meeting the requirements of RCW 46.37.190. School districts may affix signs designed according to RCW 46.61.380 informing motorists of the monetary penalty for failure to stop for a school bus when the visual signals are activated.

However, a private carrier bus that regularly transports children to and from a private school or in connection with school activities may display the words "school bus" in a manner provided in this section and need not comply with the requirements set forth in the most recent edition of "Specifications for School Buses" published by the superintendent of public instruction.