FINAL BILL REPORT

SSB 5957

C 243 L 15

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Creating a pedestrian safety advisory council.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Senators Liias, Rivers, Billig, King, Hobbs, Frockt and Hasegawa).

Senate Committee on Transportation

House Committee on Transportation

Background: The Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) is the designated highway safety office for Washington. According to the WTSC, in 2014, there were 67 pedestrian-vehicle collision fatalities, and 283 pedestrian-vehicle collision serious injuries in Washington.

Summary: The WTSC must convene and staff a pedestrian safety advisory council (Council). The Council may include, but is not limited to, the following members:

• a representative from the WTSC;

• a coroner from the county where the most pedestrian deaths have occurred;

• a representative from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs;

• a representative from the Department of Transportation;

• a representative from cities, and two representatives from municipalities in which a pedestrian fatality has occurred in the past three years that are invited by the Council;

• a traffic engineer;

• a representative from a pedestrian advocacy group; and

• representatives from law enforcement who have investigated pedestrian fatalities.

The purpose of the Council is to review and analyze data related to pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries to identify points at which the transportation system can be improved and to identify patterns in pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries.

The Council may examine the statutes, ordinances, and policies governing pedestrians and traffic related to the incidents, as well as any available relevant information maintained in existing databases. The Council may also review law enforcement incident reports, victim, witness, and suspect statements, and any other information determined to be relevant for the review, to the extent such review is permitted by law or court rule. Any confidential information, such as personally identifiable information from a medical record, obtained by the Council or the WTSC is not subject to public disclosure.

The Council must provide a report and make recommendations on measures that could improve pedestrian safety by December 31 of each year. The report must be provided to the Governor, the transportation committees of the Legislature, and all municipal governments and state agencies participating on the panel. By December 1, 2018, the Council must report to the Legislature on the strategies that have been deployed to improve pedestrian safety by the Council and make recommendations whether the Council should be continued and/or improved.

Representatives of the WTSC and the other members of the Council are immune from civil liability for the good-faith exercise of the duties of the Council related to the reviewing of fatalities and serious injuries. Council members, and any other person in attendance at a Council meeting or who otherwise participated in the collection of data and preparation of Council reports, are prohibited from testifying in a civil action related to maters the Council has reviewed. Documents prepared by or for the Council are generally inadmissible in a civil or administrative proceeding. Nothing in this act is intended to create a private civil cause of action.

The Council expires June 30, 2019.

Votes on Final Passage: