S-2284.1          _______________________________________________

                            SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5502

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              54th Legislature             1995 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Senators Rinehart, Owen, Prince and Fairley)

Read first time 03/06/95.

Requiring safety equipment on certain service and delivery vehicles.

     AN ACT Relating to service and delivery vehicles; amending RCW 46.37.400; and adding a new section to chapter 46.37 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

     Sec. 1.  RCW 46.37.400 and 1977 ex.s. c 355 s 34 are each amended to read as follows:

     (1) Every motor vehicle shall be equipped with a mirror mounted on the left side of the vehicle and so located to reflect to the driver a view of the highway for a distance of at least two hundred feet to the rear of such vehicle.

     (2) Every motor vehicle shall be equipped with an additional mirror mounted either inside the vehicle approximately in the center or outside the vehicle on the right side and so located as to reflect to the driver a view of the highway for a distance of at least two hundred feet to the rear of such vehicle.

     (3) Every cutaway delivery van (cab and chassis trucks) that has a cube-type cargo hold, panel delivery truck or van, cargo van, commercial van, walk-in delivery van, and parcel delivery van, used in the service or delivery of goods and services, that has a length of eighteen feet or less from the mirror described in subsection (1) of this section to the rear of the vehicle, must be equipped with an additional mirror mounted on the driver's top rear side of the vehicle and so located to reflect to the driver a view of the back of the vehicle that is not visible in the mirror required in subsection (1) of this section.

(4) All mirrors required by this section shall be maintained in good condition.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 46.37 RCW to read as follows:

     Every motor vehicle used in the service or delivery of goods and services in an area with a high volume of pedestrian activity must be equipped with an audible warning device at the operator's station that has a reverse signal alarm audible above the surrounding noise level.  The driver of a vehicle equipped with a manually operated warning device must activate the device before placing the vehicle in reverse.

                                    --- END ---