BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to mandatory vehicle liability insurance; amending RCW 48.22.005, 48.22.020, and 46.30.020; adding new sections to chapter 48.14 RCW; making an appropriation; and providing expiration dates.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 48.22.005 and 1993 c 242 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Automobile" means a passenger car as defined in RCW 46.04.382 registered or principally garaged in this state other than:

(a) A farm-type tractor or other self-propelled equipment designed for use principally off public roads;

(b) A vehicle operated on rails or crawler-treads;

(d) A motor home as defined in RCW 46.04.305; or

(e) A moped as defined in RCW 46.04.304.

(2) "Automobile liability insurance policy" means a policy insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed by law for bodily injury, death, or property damage suffered by any person and arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of an insured automobile.

(3) "Bodily injury" means bodily injury, sickness, or disease, including death at any time resulting from the injury, sickness, or disease.

((~~(3)~~)) (4) "Income continuation benefits" means payments of at least eighty-five percent of the insured's loss of income from work, because of bodily injury sustained by him or her in the accident, less income earned during the benefit payment period. The benefit payment period begins fourteen days after the date of the accident and ends at the earliest of the following:

(a) The date on which the insured is reasonably able to perform the duties of his or her usual occupation;

(b) The expiration of not more than fifty-two weeks from the fourteenth day; or

((~~(4)~~)) (5) "Insured automobile" means an automobile described on the declarations page of the policy.

((~~(5)~~)) (6) "Insured" means:

(a) The named insured or a person who is a resident of the named insured's household and is either related to the named insured by blood, marriage, or adoption, or is the named insured's ward, foster child, or stepchild; or

(b) A person who sustains bodily injury caused by accident while: (i) Occupying or using the insured automobile with the permission of the named insured; or (ii) a pedestrian accidentally struck by the insured automobile.

((~~(6)~~)) (7) "Loss of services benefits" means reimbursement for payment to others, not members of the insured's household, for expenses reasonably incurred for services in lieu of those the insured would usually have performed for his or her household without compensation, provided the services are actually rendered, and ending the earliest of the following:

(a) The date on which the insured person is reasonably able to perform those services;

(b) The expiration of fifty-two weeks; or

((~~(7)~~)) (8) "Low-income" means a person at or below two hundred percent but above one hundred percent of the federal poverty level as established by the United States department of health and human services.

(9) "Medical and hospital benefits" means payments for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by or on behalf of the insured for injuries sustained as a result of an automobile accident for health care services provided by persons licensed under Title 18 RCW, including pharmaceuticals, prosthetic devices and eye glasses, and necessary ambulance, hospital, and professional nursing service.

(((8) "Automobile liability insurance policy" means a policy insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed by law for bodily injury, death, or property damage suffered by any person and arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of an insured automobile.

~~(9)~~)) (10) "Named insured" means the individual named in the declarations of the policy and includes his or her spouse if a resident of the same household.

((~~(10)~~)) (11) "Occupying" means in or upon or entering into or alighting from.

((~~(11)~~)) (12) "Pedestrian" means a natural person not occupying a motor vehicle as defined in RCW 46.04.320.

((~~(12)~~)) (13) "Personal injury protection" means the benefits described in this section and RCW 48.22.085 through 48.22.100.

(14) "Very low-income" means a person at or below one hundred percent of the federal poverty level as established by the United States department of health and human services.

Sec. 2. RCW 48.22.020 and 1947 c 79 s .22.02 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The commissioner shall after consultation with the insurers licensed to write motor vehicle liability insurance in this state, approve a reasonable plan or plans for the equitable apportionment among such insurers of applicants for such insurance who are in good faith entitled to but are unable to procure insurance through ordinary methods and, when such plan has been approved, all such insurers shall subscribe thereto and shall participate therein. Any applicant for such insurance, any person insured under such plan and any insurer affected may appeal to the commissioner from any ruling or decision of the manager or committee designated to operate such plan.

(2)(a) The commissioner, in consultation with insurers authorized to write motor vehicle liability insurance in this state, shall establish an assigned risk plan to assist low-income persons obtain the mandatory minimum motor vehicle liability insurance coverage. The purpose of the plan is to enable low-income persons to avoid breaking the law because they cannot afford the mandatory motor vehicle liability insurance but must drive to work, to take their children to health care providers, and to conduct other necessary errands. The commissioner shall ensure that the plan provides the minimum liability requirements under chapter 46.30 RCW without cost to very low-income persons and requires a contribution based on income for low-income persons. The commissioner shall ensure that the plan is comprised of all insurers licensed to write motor vehicle liability insurance in this state.

(b) The commissioner shall ensure that the plan assists as many low-income persons as funds allow and prioritizes assistance based on income, good driving record, lack of availability of public transit, transportation needs, and other criteria established by the commissioner.

(c) The commissioner shall report each December to the insurance committees of the legislature on the assigned risk plan created by this subsection (2).

(d) This subsection expires June 30, 2005.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 48.14 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Of the premium taxes collected under RCW 48.14.020, beginning in 2000, the state treasurer shall deposit 98.5 percent of the amount collected in the general fund and 1.5 percent in the mandatory vehicle liability insurance assistance account created in section 4 of this act.

(2) This section expires December 31, 2004.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 48.14 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The mandatory vehicle liability insurance assistance account is created in the state treasury. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account may be used only for the assigned risk plan created in RCW 48.22.020(2).

(2) This section expires June 30, 2005.

Sec. 5. RCW 46.30.020 and 1991 sp.s. c 25 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1)(a) No person may operate a motor vehicle subject to registration under chapter 46.16 RCW in this state unless the person is insured under a motor vehicle liability policy with liability limits of at least the amounts provided in RCW 46.29.090, is self-insured as provided in RCW 46.29.630, is covered by a certificate of deposit in conformance with RCW 46.29.550, or is covered by a liability bond of at least the amounts provided in RCW 46.29.090. Written proof of financial responsibility for motor vehicle operation must be provided on the request of a law enforcement officer in the format specified under RCW 46.30.030.

(b) A person who drives a motor vehicle that is required to be registered in another state that requires drivers and owners of vehicles in that state to maintain insurance or financial responsibility shall, when requested by a law enforcement officer, provide evidence of financial responsibility or insurance as is required by the laws of the state in which the vehicle is registered.

(c) When asked to do so by a law enforcement officer, failure to display an insurance identification card as specified under RCW 46.30.030 creates a presumption that the person does not have motor vehicle insurance.

(d) Failure to provide proof of motor vehicle insurance is a traffic infraction and is subject to penalties as set by the supreme court under RCW 46.63.110 or community service.

(2) If a person cited for a violation of subsection (1) of this section appears in person before the court and provides written evidence that at the time the person was cited, he or she was in compliance with the financial responsibility requirements of subsection (1) of this section, the citation shall be dismissed. If a person cited for a violation of subsection (1) of this section appears in person before the court and within thirty days provides written evidence of having obtained motor vehicle insurance in conformance with subsection (1) of this section, the citation may be dismissed. In lieu of personal appearance, a person cited for a violation of subsection (1) of this section may, before the date scheduled for the person's appearance before the court, submit by mail to the court written evidence that at the time the person was cited, he or she was in compliance with the financial responsibility requirements of subsection (1) of this section, in which case the citation shall be dismissed without cost, except that the court may assess court administrative costs of twenty-five dollars at the time of dismissal.

(3) The provisions of this chapter shall not govern:

(a) The operation of a motor vehicle registered under RCW 46.16.305(1), governed by RCW 46.16.020, or registered with the Washington utilities and transportation commission as common or contract carriers; or

(b) The operation of a motorcycle as defined in RCW 46.04.330, a motor-driven cycle as defined in RCW 46.04.332, or a moped as defined in RCW 46.04.304.

(4) RCW 46.29.490 shall not be deemed to govern all motor vehicle liability policies required by this chapter but only those certified for the purposes stated in chapter 46.29 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The sum of one million three hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, from the account created under section 4 of this act to the office of the insurance commissioner for the purposes of the assigned risk plan created under RCW 48.22.020(2).