BILL REQ. #:  H-3488.1 

Read first time 01/13/2006.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to passengers riding on the outside part of vehicles; amending RCW 46.61.660; creating a new section; and prescribing penalties.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds and declares that:
     (a) Pickup trucks are becoming increasingly popular as multipurpose vehicles and are frequently used for family transport and recreation;
     (b) Each year, a significant number of injuries and deaths occur in this state as a result of persons riding in the cargo area of pickup trucks without the use of appropriate restraint devices when doing so;
     (c) Injuries sustained by persons riding in the cargo area of pickup trucks without the use of appropriate restraint devices when doing so occur as a result both of collisions in which the pickup trucks are involved and of ejections from the pickup trucks during sudden stops, bumps, turns, or swerves where no collision occurs; and
     (d) The occupant death rate is higher in pickup trucks and small utility vehicles than in any other kind of passenger vehicle.
     (2) It is therefore the purpose of this act to prohibit riding in open truck beds except in specified circumstances.

Sec. 2   RCW 46.61.660 and 1997 c 190 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) It ((shall be unlawful)) is a traffic infraction for any person to transport any living animal on the running board, fenders, hood, or other outside part of any vehicle unless suitable harness, cage or enclosure be provided and so attached as to protect such animal from falling or being thrown therefrom.
     (2) It ((shall be unlawful)) is a traffic infraction for any person to transport any persons upon the running board, fenders, hood or other outside part of any vehicle, except that this provision shall not apply to authorized emergency vehicles or to solid waste collection vehicles that are engaged in collecting solid waste or recyclables on route at speeds of twenty miles per hour or less.
     (3)(a) It is a traffic infraction for any person to transport any persons in or on an open truck bed. This subsection does not apply to a person operating:
     (i) An authorized emergency vehicle;
     (ii) A vehicle where the passengers are wearing safety belts in a properly adjusted and securely fastened manner;
     (iii) A vehicle in a parade, caravan, or exhibition that is officially authorized or otherwise permitted by law; or
     (iv) A vehicle while performing those practices that are prudent and necessary for the purpose of producing agricultural goods and the harvesting of natural resources.
     (b) For the purposes of this subsection, "open truck bed" includes a pickup truck bed without a shell or camper, whether a tailgate is up or down, and the bed of a flatbed truck.