H-3070.1
HOUSE BILL 2627
| | |
State of Washington | 64th Legislature | 2016 Regular Session |
By Representatives Pike, Moeller, Wylie, Fitzgibbon, and Kilduff
Read first time 01/18/16. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.
AN ACT Relating to authorizing local governments to use a young driver safety training program created by the national safety council; and adding a new chapter to Title
46 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. This act may be known and cited as the alive at twenty-five act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The legislature finds that young drivers between sixteen and twenty-four years old are overrepresented in fatalities and physical injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents. The national safety council sponsors a defensive driving program, "alive at twenty-five," that has reduced high-risk behaviors by young drivers in jurisdictions that have adopted the program. The legislature intends to give local authorities the opportunity to adopt this program for use by high-risk young drivers who have committed traffic infractions or have been involved in accidents in an effort to prevent future fatalities or injuries due to motor vehicle collisions.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Court" means municipal court, district court, juvenile court, or superior court, or any other court hearing and determining traffic cases within the limits of a county in which a young driver safety training program has been established.
(2) "Young driver safety training program" means the national safety council's alive at twenty-five defensive driving course as it existed on the effective date of this section, or such subsequent date as may be provided by local ordinance.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The purpose of the young driver safety training program is to instruct, educate, and inform those who attend the training program on defensive driving techniques and other strategies for staying safe on the road designed specifically for young drivers.
(2) The young driver safety training program must meet the following requirements:
(a) A program instructor must successfully complete a young driver safety training instructor course to gain certification to teach in the training program.
(b) Core training program materials used in training program sessions must have been developed specifically for use in a young driver safety training program.
(c) A young driver safety training program session must include at least three and one-half hours of instruction time.
(d) A young driver safety training program session must be conducted in a live, interactive format focused specifically on topics related to young driver safety. Topics covered must include: Alcohol and drug awareness, traffic laws, the high rate of motor vehicle accidents and fatalities for drivers younger than twenty-five years old, and issues commonly associated with motor vehicle accidents involving drivers younger than twenty-five years old.
(3) A young driver safety training program may permit any person between sixteen and twenty-four years old to enroll in and attend a training program session voluntarily as long as space for additional students is available in a scheduled training session.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) A city, town, or county may establish a young driver safety training program and authorize a court to require attendance at such a program by drivers younger than twenty-five years old. A city, town, or county young driver safety training program may be established when the governing body of the city, town, or county passes an ordinance authorizing the operation of a young driver safety training program.
(2) The governing body of a city, town, or county participating in the operation of a young driver safety training program may make appropriations for training program operations and accept and expend gifts, donations, and any other money from any source, private or public, given for the purpose of the training program. The ordinance may authorize the provider of the young driver safety training program to charge a fee to the person attending the program.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) A court in which a young driver safety training program has been established may order a person who is between sixteen and twenty-four years old to attend the young driver safety training program for a training session as a condition on the suspension of a sentence or deferral of entry of a court order or as part of a sentence imposed following a conviction for the following moving violations or violations of an equivalent local law, ordinance, regulation, or resolution:
(b) Speed too fast for conditions, as described in RCW
46.61.400;
(c) Speed in excess of maximum limit, as described in RCW
46.61.400;
(2) A court may not require a person to attend a young driver safety training program unless the program is offered within the city or town or within a reasonable distance of the person's residence.
(3) Every person required to attend a young driver safety training program session must attend the training program session in accordance with the court sentence or order. Failure to attend a training program session within thirty days after the court sentence or order is put in place, or failure to attend the next session with space available if longer than thirty days after the sentence or order is put in place, unless for good cause shown, results in termination of the deferral.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) This chapter does not repeal, amend, or modify any law authorizing the use of traffic school or relicensing diversion programs, but is an additional and alternative program for a person who has committed certain traffic infractions and is between sixteen and twenty-four years old.
(2) A deferral granted under this chapter must be included in the determination of total deferrals a person may receive as set forth in RCW
46.63.070.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 7 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 46 RCW. --- END ---