H-0136.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 1193

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      57th Legislature     2001 Regular Session

By Representatives Benson and Ahern

Read first time 01/19/2001.  Referred to Committee on Transportation.

Enhancing enforcement of school bus stop sign violations.

    AN ACT Relating to enforcement of school bus stop sign violations; and amending RCW 46.61.372.

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

    Sec. 1.  RCW 46.61.372 and 1992 c 39 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) The driver of a school bus who observes a violation of RCW 46.61.370 ((may)) shall prepare a written report on a form provided by the state patrol or another law enforcement agency indicating that a violation has occurred.  The driver of the school bus or a school official ((may)) shall deliver the report to a law enforcement officer of the state, county, or municipality in which the violation occurred but not more than seventy-two hours after the violation occurred.  The driver shall include in the report the time and location at which the violation occurred, the vehicle license plate number, and a description of the vehicle involved in the violation.

    (2) The law enforcement officer shall ((initiate an investigation of the reported violation)) within ten working days after receiving the report described in subsection (1) of this section ((by contacting the owner of the motor vehicle involved in the reported violation and requesting the owner to supply information identifying the driver.  Failure to investigate within the ten working day period does not prohibit further investigation or prosecution.  If, after an investigation, the law enforcement officer is able to identify the driver and has reasonable cause to believe a violation of RCW 46.61.370 has occurred, the law enforcement officer shall prepare a notice of traffic infraction and have it served upon the driver of the vehicle)) mail a written notice of traffic infraction to the registered owner of the vehicle involved in the violation.  It is a complete defense to this infraction that the registered owner of the vehicle has filed a police report that the vehicle has been stolen or that the vehicle has been sold and is no longer in his or her possession.

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