SB 5050 -
By Committee on Transportation
ADOPTED 04/09/2013
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"Sec. 1 RCW 46.61.625 and 1999 c 398 s 9 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) No person or persons shall occupy any trailer while it is being
moved upon a public highway, except a person occupying a proper
position for steering a trailer designed to be steered from a rear-end
position.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, no person
or persons may occupy a vehicle while it is being towed by a tow truck
as defined in RCW 46.55.010.
(3)(a) A tow truck operator may allow passengers to ride in a
vehicle that is carried on the deck of a flatbed tow truck only when
the following conditions are met:
(i) The number of people that need to be transported exceeds the
seating capacity of the tow truck or a person needing to be transported
has a disability that limits that person's ability to enter the tow
truck;
(ii) All passengers in the carried vehicle and in the tow truck
comply with RCW 46.61.687 and 46.61.688;
(iii) Any passenger under sixteen years of age is accompanied by an
adult riding in the same vehicle; and
(iv) There is a way for the passengers in the carried vehicle to
immediately communicate, either verbally, audibly, or visually, with
the tow truck operator in case of an emergency.
(b) No passenger of such a carried vehicle may exit the carried
vehicle, ride outside of the passenger compartment of the carried
vehicle, or exhibit dangerous or distracting behaviors while in the
carried vehicle."
Correct the title.
EFFECT: Clarifies that the bill applies to all tow truck operators whether or not they are registered with the department of licensing; allows persons with disabilities to ride in a passenger vehicle being carried on the back of a flatbed tow truck irrespective of whether or not the tow truck has sufficient seating capacity; provides additional requirements for riding in a passenger vehicle that is being carried by a flatbed tow truck, including that minors be accompanied by an adult and that passengers be able to communicate with the driver of the tow truck in case of an emergency; and prohibits dangerous or distracting behavior by passengers in such a vehicle being carried.