HOUSE BILL REPORT

SB 6303

BYSenators von Reichbauer, Bender, Thorsness, Murray and Talmadge

Enhancing pedestrian safety.

House Committe on Transportation

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.  (24)

      Signed by Representatives R. Fisher, Chair; Baugher, Vice Chair, Eastern Washington; R. Meyers, Vice Chair, Western Washington; Schmidt, Ranking Republican Member; Wood, Assistant Ranking Republican Member; Basich, Bennett, Cantwell, Cooper, Day, G. Fisher, Forner, Gallagher, Hankins, Haugen, Jones, Kremen, Nelson, Smith, D. Sommers, Todd, Walker, S. Wilson and Zellinsky.

House Staff:Cathy Mayo (786-7304)

                  Louise Bray Sandison (786-7322)

AS PASSED HOUSE MARCH 2, 1990

BACKGROUND:

Each year in the United States approximately 8000 pedestrians are killed on our streets and highways.  At greatest risk are children and the elderly.  For five to nine year olds, pedestrian injuries are the most common cause of death from trauma.  More than 50,000 children and adolescents are injured as pedestrians, many sustaining serious head injuries which can lead to permanent disability.  Costs to the family and society for treatment and rehabilitation are very high.

In Washington State in 1988, 17 pedestrians under age 15 were killed and 528 were injured.  Most (83.6 percent) of these children were hit while attempting to cross the street.  In 1987, 82 children were treated for pedestrian injuries at Harborview Medical Center and Children's Hospital Medical Center.  Of those admitted to Harborview, two-thirds suffered head injuries and one-third required intensive unit care.

Statutes relating to pedestrian and traffic control signals have not been updated since 1975.  Language addressing pedestrians in crosswalks has not been updated in 25 years.

SUMMARY:

The definition of pedestrian is expanded to include wheelchairs or any means of conveyance propelled by human power other than a bicycle.

All references to vehicles "yielding the right of way" to other vehicles and pedestrians when approaching traffic control devices are changed to state that the operator of a vehicle shall stop to allow the pedestrians or other vehicles lawfully moving within the intersection to complete their movements.

If pedestrians have begun to cross before the display of either signal, vehicle operators shall stop to allow them to complete their movements.

Pedestrians that begin to cross a roadway while facing a control signal exhibiting the words "Walk" or the walking person symbol shall be granted the right to complete their crossing by all vehicle operators.

The driver of an approaching vehicle shall stop to allow a pedestrian to cross in a marked or unmarked crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the half of the road on which the vehicle is traveling, or when the pedestrian is on the opposite half of the road and moving toward the approaching vehicle.

When a curb ramp for the disabled is located adjacent to or at an intersection or marked crosswalk, disabled persons may enter the roadway from the curb ramps and cross the roadway within or as close as practicable to the crosswalk.

In cases where the sidewalk area lacks a ramp entry for wheelchair access, the person in the wheelchair is permitted to proceed on the roadway to the ramp access point.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Alison Young, Harborview Injury Prevention Center; Larry Inman, Seattle Police Department; and Toby Olson, Governor's Committee on Disability Issues and Employment.

House Committee - Testified Against:      No one.

House Committee - Testimony For:    The present pedestrian/vehicle crosswalk law, which requires that motorists "yield the right of way" to pedestrians is vague and therefore difficult to enforce.  The two major causes of pedestrian deaths and injuries are (1) the motorist's failure to stop for pedestrians, and (2) the pedestrian's false sense of security in the crosswalk.  Last year pedestrian deaths were the second greatest cause of trauma deaths for Washington's children under age 14.  Of the 528 children struck by cars, 17 were killed.  Of the 1,292 other pedestrians injured by cars, 80 were killed.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None.

VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE:

      Yeas 97 - 3/2