| Passed by the House April 18, 2009 Yeas 97 FRANK CHOPP ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives Passed by the Senate March 31, 2009 Yeas 48 BRAD OWEN ________________________________________ President of the Senate | I, Barbara Baker, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is HOUSE BILL 1433 as passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on the dates hereon set forth. BARBARA BAKER ________________________________________ Chief Clerk | |
| Approved May 7, 2009, 2:29 p.m. CHRISTINE GREGOIRE ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | May 8, 2009 Secretary of State State of Washington |
| State of Washington | 61st Legislature | 2009 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/21/09. Referred to Committee on Transportation.
AN ACT Relating to liability for damages to state property resulting from the illegal operation of a vehicle; and amending RCW 46.44.110.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 46.44.110 and 1984 c 7 s 59 are each amended to read
as follows:
Any person operating any vehicle or moving any object or conveyance
upon any public highway in this state or upon any bridge or elevated
structure that is a part of any such public highway is liable for all
damages that the public highway, bridge, ((or)) elevated structure, or
other state property may sustain as a result of any illegal operation
of the vehicle or the moving of any such object or conveyance or as a
result of the operation or moving of any vehicle, object, or conveyance
weighing in excess of the legal weight limits allowed by law. This
section applies to any person operating any vehicle or moving any
object or contrivance in any illegal or negligent manner or without a
special permit as provided by law for vehicles, objects, or
contrivances that are overweight, overwidth, overheight, or overlength.
Any person operating any vehicle is liable for any damage to any public
highway, bridge, ((or)) elevated structure, or other state property
sustained as the result of any negligent operation thereof. When the
operator is not the owner of the vehicle, object, or contrivance but is
operating or moving it with the express or implied permission of the
owner, the owner and the operator are jointly and severally liable for
any such damage. Such damage to any state highway ((or)), structure,
or other state property may be recovered in a civil action instituted
in the name of the state of Washington by the department of
transportation or other affected state agency. Any measure of damage
((to any public highway)) determined by the department of
transportation ((by reason of)) to its highway, bridge, elevated
structure, or other property under this section is prima facie the
amount of damage caused thereby and is presumed to be the amount
recoverable in any civil action therefor. The damages available under
this section include the incident response costs, including traffic
control, incurred by the department of transportation.