BILL REQ. #:  Z-0128.2 

Read first time 02/22/13.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to the disclosure and use of information contained in collision reports; and amending RCW 46.52.060 and 46.52.080.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 46.52.060 and 2005 c 171 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Subject to subsection (3) of this section, it shall be the duty of the chief of the Washington state patrol to file, tabulate, and analyze all accident reports and to publish annually, immediately following the close of each fiscal year, and monthly during the course of the year, statistical information based thereon showing the number of accidents, the location, the frequency, whether any driver involved in the accident was distracted at the time of the accident and the circumstances thereof, and other statistical information which may prove of assistance in determining the cause of vehicular accidents. Distractions contributing to an accident to be reported must include at least the following: Not distracted; operating a handheld electronic telecommunication device; operating a hands-free wireless telecommunication device; other electronic devices (including, but not limited to, PDA's, laptop computers, navigational devices, etc.); adjusting an audio or entertainment system; smoking; eating or drinking; reading or writing; grooming; interacting with children, passengers, animals, or objects in the vehicle; other inside distractions; outside distractions; and distraction unknown.
     (2) Subject to subsection (3) of this section, such accident reports and analysis or reports thereof shall be available to the director of licensing, the department of transportation, the utilities and transportation commission, the traffic safety commission, and other public entities authorized by the chief of the Washington state patrol, or their duly authorized representatives, for further tabulation and analysis for pertinent data relating to the regulation of highway traffic, highway construction, vehicle operators, and all other purposes, and to publish information so derived as may be deemed of publication value.
     (3) Information compiled, collected, received, filed, tabulated, or analyzed under this section is subject to public disclosure in a manner consistent with chapter 42.56 RCW, but is inadmissible in any current, pending, or future action for damages against a government agency.

Sec. 2   RCW 46.52.080 and 1979 c 158 s 162 are each amended to read as follows:
     All required accident reports and supplemental reports and copies thereof, including reports prepared pursuant to RCW 46.52.070, shall be ((without prejudice to the individual so reporting and shall be)) for the confidential use of the county prosecuting attorney and chief of police or county sheriff, as the case may be, and the director of licensing ((and)), the department of transportation, the chief of the Washington state patrol, and other officer or commission as authorized by law, except that any such officer shall disclose the names and addresses of persons reported as involved in an accident or as witnesses thereto, the vehicle license plate numbers and descriptions of vehicles involved, and the date, time, and location of an accident, to any person who may have a proper interest therein, including the driver or drivers involved, or the legal guardian thereof, the parent of a minor driver, any person injured therein, the owner of vehicles or property damaged thereby, or any authorized representative of such an interested party, or the attorney or insurer thereof. No such accident reports, supplemental reports, or ((copy)) copies thereof shall be used as evidence in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of an accident, except that any officer above named for receiving accident reports shall furnish, upon demand of any person who has, or who claims to have, made such a report, or, upon demand of any court, a certificate showing that a specified accident report has or has not been made to the chief of the Washington state patrol solely to prove a compliance or a failure to comply with the requirement that such a report be made in the manner required by law: PROVIDED, That the reports may be used as evidence when necessary to prosecute charges filed in connection with a violation of RCW 46.52.088.