SENATE BILL REPORT

SB 5034

BYSenators Garrett and Stratton

Updating the Model Traffic Ordinance.

Senate Committee on Transportation

Senate Hearing Date(s):January 27, 1987

Majority Report:  Do pass.

      Signed by Senators Hansen, Vice Chairman; Tanner, Vice Chairman; Bailey, Bender, Conner, DeJarnatt, Garrett, Nelson, Patterson, Smitherman.

Senate Staff:Cathy Mayo (786-7304)

                  February 10, 1987

AS PASSED SENATE, FEBRUARY 9, 1987

BACKGROUND:

The Washington Model Traffic Ordinance (MTO), enacted in 1975, is a listing of all state traffic laws which are applicable to a municipality, and can be adopted by reference by any local authority to serve as its local traffic ordinance.  A local authority may adopt the MTO in full or in part, and may at any time exclude any section or sections it does not wish to include in its local laws.  It is a service that three-fourths of the cities and twenty of the thirty-nine counties in the state subscribe to.

The object of this legislation is to incorporate into the MTO the new legislative enactments from the 1986 session that relate to the regulation of traffic and motor vehicles within a municipality.  Including these statutes by reference in the model ordinance allows the cities, towns and counties which have adopted the Model Traffic Ordinance to enforce these laws without having to enact separate ordinances for each one.

If a municipality desires to implement a new traffic law prior to legislative passage of the updated MTO, then it must enact its own local ordinance compatible with the state law.

SUMMARY:

The Model Traffic Ordinance is updated to include the mandatory use of seat belts in motor vehicles, as passed by the Washington Legislature in 1985.

Fiscal Note:      none requested

Effective Date:The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.

Senate Committee - Testified: Senator Avery Garrett, Sponsor; Peter King, Association of Washington Cities