SENATE BILL REPORT

SB 6295

BYSenators Garrett and Patterson

Updating the Model Traffic Ordinance.

Senate Committee on Transportation

Senate Hearing Date(s):January 26, 1988

Majority Report:  Do pass.

      Signed by Senators Patterson, Chairman; Nelson, Vice Chairman; von Reichbauer, Vice Chairman; Barr, Bender, Conner, DeJarnatt, Garrett, Hansen, Kiskaddon, McMullen, Metcalf, Owen, Sellar.

Senate Staff:Cathy Mayo (786-7304)

                  February 13, 1988

AS PASSED SENATE, FEBRUARY 12, 1988

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 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 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 MTO 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 traffic- related legislation passed during the 1987 legislative session.

These laws enacted in 1987 include: (1) making it a misdemeanor to allow an unauthorized person the use of one's vehicle; (2) authorizing law enforcement to confiscate the vehicle registration certificate when arresting a person for driving without a valid driver's license (effective 7-1-88; (3) making it a gross misdemeanor for anyone to assist a person in starting a vehicle with an ignition interlock device in place; (4) establishing fines for anyone driving a vehicle after reinstatement of suspension until proof of financial responsibility is given; (5) standards relating to police impoundment of abandoned vehicles; (6) providing authorization for the removal of a vehicle by law enforcement under specific circumstances; (7) providing authorization to require a nonresident receiving a traffic citation to post bail, bond or cash security for the amount of the infraction penalty.

Appropriation:    none

Revenue:    none

Fiscal Note:      none requested

Senate Committee - Testified: No one