AN ACT Relating to traffic safety education; amending RCW 43.59.010, 46.20.095, 46.82.430, 46.83.040, 46.52.070, 46.52.100, 46.52.120, 46.52.130, 46.20.291, 46.20.305, 46.37.280, and 46.61.780; adding a new section to chapter 43.59 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 46.20 RCW; creating new sections; prescribing penalties; making an appropriation; and providing an effective date.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. This act may be known and cited as the Cooper Jones Act.

Sec. 2. RCW 43.59.010 and 1967 ex.s. c 147 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The purpose of this chapter is to establish a new agency of state government to be known as the Washington traffic safety commission. The functions and purpose of this commission shall be to find solutions to the problems that have been created as a result of the tremendous increase of motor vehicles on our highways and the attendant traffic death and accident tolls; to plan and supervise programs for the prevention of accidents on streets and highways including but not limited to educational campaigns designed to reduce traffic accidents in cooperation with all official and unofficial organizations interested in traffic safety; to coordinate the activities at the state and local level in the development of state-wide and local traffic safety programs; to promote a uniform enforcement of traffic safety laws and establish standards for investigation and reporting of traffic accidents; to promote and improve driver education; and to authorize the governor to perform all functions required to be performed by him under the federal Highway Safety Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-564; 80 Stat. 731).

(2) The legislature finds and declares that bicycling and walking are becoming increasingly popular in Washington as clean and efficient modes of transportation, as recreational activities, and as organized sports. Future plans for the state's transportation system will require increased access and safety for bicycles and pedestrians on our common roadways, and federal transportation legislation and funding programs have created strong incentives to implement these changes quickly. As a result, many more people are likely to take up bicycling in Washington both as a leisure activity and as a convenient, inexpensive form of transportation. Bicyclists are more vulnerable to injury and accident than motorists, and should be as knowledgeable as possible about traffic laws, be highly visible and predictable when riding in traffic, and be encouraged to wear bicycle safety helmets. Hundreds of bicyclists and pedestrians are seriously injured every year in accidents, and millions of dollars are spent on health care costs associated with these accidents. There is clear evidence that organized training in the rules and techniques of safe and effective cycling can significantly reduce the incidence of serious injury and accidents, increase cooperation among road users, and significantly increase the incidence of bicycle helmet use, particularly among minors. A reduction in accidents benefits the entire community. Therefore it is appropriate for businesses and community organizations to provide donations to bicycle and pedestrian safety training programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 43.59 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The Washington state traffic safety commission shall establish a program for improving bicycle and pedestrian safety, and shall cooperate with the stakeholders and independent representatives to form an advisory committee to develop programs and create public private partnerships which promote bicycle and pedestrian safety. The traffic safety commission shall report and make recommendations to the legislative transportation committee and the fiscal committees of the house of representatives and the senate by December 1, 1998, regarding the conclusions of the advisory committee.

(2) The bicycle and pedestrian safety account is created in the state treasury. To the extent that private contributions are received by the traffic safety commission for the purposes of bicycle and pedestrian safety programs established under this section, the appropriations from the highway safety account for this purpose shall lapse.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 46.20 RCW to read as follows:

The department of licensing shall incorporate a section on bicycle safety and sharing the road into its instructional publications for drivers and shall include questions in the written portion of the driver's license examination on bicycle safety and sharing the road with bicycles.

Sec. 5. RCW 46.20.095 and 1986 c 93 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

The department shall include information on the proper use of the left-hand lane by motor vehicles on multilane highways and on bicyclists' and pedestrians' rights and responsibilities in its instructional publications for drivers.

Sec. 6. RCW 46.82.430 and 1986 c 93 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

Instructional material used in driver training schools shall include information on the proper use of the left-hand lane by motor vehicles on multilane highways and on bicyclists' and pedestrians' rights and responsibilities and suggested riding procedures in common traffic situations.

Sec. 7. RCW 46.83.040 and 1961 c 12 s 46.83.040 are each amended to read as follows:

It shall be the purpose of every traffic school which may be established hereunder to instruct, educate, and inform all persons appearing for training in the proper, lawful, and safe operation of motor vehicles, including but not limited to rules of the road and the limitations of persons, vehicles, and bicycles and roads, streets, and highways under varying conditions and circumstances.

Sec. 8. RCW 46.52.070 and 1967 c 32 s 57 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Any police officer of the state of Washington or of any county, city, town or other political subdivision, present at the scene of any accident or in possession of any facts concerning any accident whether by way of official investigation or otherwise shall make report thereof in the same manner as required of the parties to such accident and as fully as the facts in his possession concerning such accident will permit.

(2) The police officer shall report to the department, on a form prescribed by the director: (a) When an accident has occurred that results in a fatality or serious injury; (b) the identity of the operator of a vehicle involved in the accident when the officer has reasonable grounds to believe the operator who caused the fatality or serious injury may not be competent to operate a motor vehicle; and (c) the reason or reasons for such belief.

Sec. 9. RCW 46.52.100 and 1995 c 219 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

Every district court, municipal court, and clerk of superior court shall keep or cause to be kept a record of every traffic complaint, traffic citation, notice of infraction, or other legal form of traffic charge deposited with or presented to the court or a traffic violations bureau, and shall keep a record of every official action by the court or its traffic violations bureau in reference thereto, including but not limited to a record of every conviction, forfeiture of bail, judgment of acquittal, finding that a traffic infraction has been committed, dismissal of a notice of infraction, and the amount of fine, forfeiture, or penalty resulting from every traffic complaint, citation, or notice of infraction deposited with or presented to the district court, municipal court, superior court, or traffic violations bureau.

The Monday following the conviction, forfeiture of bail, or finding that a traffic infraction was committed for violation of any provisions of this chapter or other law regulating the operating of vehicles on highways, every magistrate of the court or clerk of the court of record in which such conviction was had, bail was forfeited, or the finding made shall prepare and immediately forward to the director of licensing at Olympia an abstract of the record of the court covering the case, which abstract must be certified by the person so required to prepare the same to be true and correct. Report need not be made of any finding involving the illegal parking or standing of a vehicle.

The abstract must be made upon a form or forms furnished by the director and shall include the name and address of the party charged, the number, if any, of the party's driver's or chauffeur's license, the registration number of the vehicle involved if required by the director, the nature of the offense, the date of hearing, the plea, the judgment, whether the offense was an alcohol-related offense as defined in RCW 46.01.260(2), whether the incident that gave rise to the offense charged resulted in any fatality, whether bail forfeited, whether the determination that a traffic infraction was committed was contested, and the amount of the fine, forfeiture, or penalty as the case may be.

Every court of record shall also forward a like report to the director upon the conviction of any person of a felony in the commission of which a vehicle was used.

The failure of any such judicial officer to comply with any of the requirements of this section shall constitute misconduct in office and shall be grounds for removal therefrom.

The director shall keep all abstracts received hereunder at the director's office in Olympia and the same shall be open to public inspection during reasonable business hours.

Venue in all district courts shall be before one of the two nearest district judges in incorporated cities and towns nearest to the point the violation allegedly occurred: PROVIDED, That in counties with populations of one hundred twenty-five thousand or more such cases may be tried in the county seat at the request of the defendant.

It shall be the duty of the officer, prosecuting attorney, or city attorney signing the charge or information in any case involving a charge of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug immediately to make request to the director for an abstract of convictions and forfeitures which the director shall furnish.

Sec. 10. RCW 46.52.120 and 1993 c 501 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The director shall keep a case record on every motor vehicle driver licensed under the laws of this state, together with information on each driver, showing all the convictions and findings of traffic infractions certified by the courts, together with an index cross-reference record of each accident reported relating to such individual with a brief statement of the cause of the accident and whether or not the accident resulted in any fatality. The chief of the Washington state patrol shall furnish the index cross-reference record to the director, with reference to each driver involved in the reported accidents.

(2) The records shall be for the confidential use of the director, the chief of the Washington state patrol, the director of the Washington traffic safety commission, and for such police officers or other cognizant public officials as may be designated by law. Such case records shall not be offered as evidence in any court except in case appeal is taken from the order of the director, suspending, revoking, canceling, or refusing a vehicle driver's license.

(3) The director shall tabulate and analyze vehicle driver's case records and suspend, revoke, cancel, or refuse a vehicle driver's license to a person when it is deemed from facts contained in the case record of such person that it is for the best interest of public safety that such person be denied the privilege of operating a motor vehicle. The director shall also suspend a person's driver's license if the person fails to attend or complete a driver improvement interview or fails to abide by conditions of probation under RCW 46.20.335. Whenever the director orders the vehicle driver's license of any such person suspended, revoked, or canceled, or refuses the issuance of a vehicle driver's license, such suspension, revocation, cancellation, or refusal is final and effective unless appeal from the decision of the director is taken as provided by law.

Sec. 11. RCW 46.52.130 and 1997 c 66 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:

A certified abstract of the driving record shall be furnished only to the individual named in the abstract, an employer or prospective employer or an agent acting on behalf of an employer or prospective employer, the insurance carrier that has insurance in effect covering the employer or a prospective employer, the insurance carrier that has insurance in effect covering the named individual, the insurance carrier to which the named individual has applied, an alcohol/drug assessment or treatment agency approved by the department of social and health services, to which the named individual has applied or been assigned for evaluation or treatment, or city and county prosecuting attorneys. City attorneys and county prosecuting attorneys may provide the driving record to alcohol/drug assessment or treatment agencies approved by the department of social and health services to which the named individual has applied or been assigned for evaluation or treatment. The director, upon proper request, shall furnish a certified abstract covering the period of not more than the last three years to insurance companies. Upon proper request, the director shall furnish a certified abstract covering a period of not more than the last five years to state approved alcohol/drug assessment or treatment agencies, except that the certified abstract shall also include records of alcohol-related offenses as defined in RCW 46.01.260(2) covering a period of not more than the last ten years. Upon proper request, a certified abstract of the full driving record maintained by the department shall be furnished to a city or county prosecuting attorney, to the individual named in the abstract or to an employer or prospective employer or an agent acting on behalf of an employer or prospective employer of the named individual. The abstract, whenever possible, shall include an enumeration of motor vehicle accidents in which the person was driving; the total number of vehicles involved; whether the vehicles were legally parked or moving; whether the vehicles were occupied at the time of the accident; whether the accident resulted in any fatality; any reported convictions, forfeitures of bail, or findings that an infraction was committed based upon a violation of any motor vehicle law; and the status of the person's driving privilege in this state. The enumeration shall include any reports of failure to appear in response to a traffic citation or failure to respond to a notice of infraction served upon the named individual by an arresting officer. Certified abstracts furnished to prosecutors and alcohol/drug assessment or treatment agencies shall also indicate whether a recorded violation is an alcohol-related offense as defined in RCW 46.01.260(2) that was originally charged as one of the alcohol-related offenses designated in RCW 46.01.260(2)(b)(i).

The abstract provided to the insurance company shall exclude any information, except that related to the commission of misdemeanors or felonies by the individual, pertaining to law enforcement officers or fire fighters as defined in RCW 41.26.030, or any officer of the Washington state patrol, while driving official vehicles in the performance of occupational duty. The abstract provided to the insurance company shall include convictions for RCW 46.61.5249 and 46.61.525 except that the abstract shall report them only as negligent driving without reference to whether they are for first or second degree negligent driving. The abstract provided to the insurance company shall exclude any deferred prosecution under RCW 10.05.060, except that if a person is removed from a deferred prosecution under RCW 10.05.090, the abstract shall show the deferred prosecution as well as the removal.

The director shall collect for each abstract the sum of four dollars and fifty cents which shall be deposited in the highway safety fund.

Any insurance company or its agent receiving the certified abstract shall use it exclusively for its own underwriting purposes and shall not divulge any of the information contained in it to a third party. No policy of insurance may be canceled, nonrenewed, denied, or have the rate increased on the basis of such information unless the policyholder was determined to be at fault. No insurance company or its agent for underwriting purposes relating to the operation of commercial motor vehicles may use any information contained in the abstract relative to any person's operation of motor vehicles while not engaged in such employment, nor may any insurance company or its agent for underwriting purposes relating to the operation of noncommercial motor vehicles use any information contained in the abstract relative to any person's operation of commercial motor vehicles.

Any employer or prospective employer or an agent acting on behalf of an employer or prospective employer receiving the certified abstract shall use it exclusively for his or her own purpose to determine whether the licensee should be permitted to operate a commercial vehicle or school bus upon the public highways of this state and shall not divulge any information contained in it to a third party.

Any alcohol/drug assessment or treatment agency approved by the department of social and health services receiving the certified abstract shall use it exclusively for the purpose of assisting its employees in making a determination as to what level of treatment, if any, is appropriate. The agency, or any of its employees, shall not divulge any information contained in the abstract to a third party.

Release of a certified abstract of the driving record of an employee or prospective employee requires a statement signed by: (1) The employee or prospective employee that authorizes the release of the record, and (2) the employer attesting that the information is necessary to determine whether the licensee should be employed to operate a commercial vehicle or school bus upon the public highways of this state. If the employer or prospective employer authorizes an agent to obtain this information on their behalf, this must be noted in the statement.

Any violation of this section is a gross misdemeanor.

Sec. 12. RCW 46.20.291 and 1997 c 58 s 806 are each amended to read as follows:

The department is authorized to suspend the license of a driver upon a showing by its records or other sufficient evidence that the licensee:

(1) Has committed an offense for which mandatory revocation or suspension of license is provided by law;

(2) Has, by reckless or unlawful operation of a motor vehicle, caused or contributed to an accident resulting in death or injury to any person or serious property damage;

(3) Has been convicted of offenses against traffic regulations governing the movement of vehicles, or found to have committed traffic infractions, with such frequency as to indicate a disrespect for traffic laws or a disregard for the safety of other persons on the highways;

(4) Is incompetent to drive a motor vehicle under RCW 46.20.031(3);

(5) Has failed to respond to a notice of traffic infraction, failed to appear at a requested hearing, violated a written promise to appear in court, or has failed to comply with the terms of a notice of traffic infraction or citation, as provided in RCW 46.20.289;

(6) Is subject to suspension under RCW 46.20.305;

(7) Has committed one of the prohibited practices relating to drivers' licenses defined in RCW 46.20.336; or

((~~(7)~~)) (8) Has been certified by the department of social and health services as a person who is not in compliance with a child support order or a residential or visitation order as provided in RCW 74.20A.320.

Sec. 13. RCW 46.20.305 and 1965 ex.s. c 121 s 26 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department, having good cause to believe that a licensed driver is incompetent or otherwise not qualified to be licensed may upon notice require him or her to submit to an examination.

(2) The department shall require a driver reported under RCW 46.52.070(2), when a fatality occurred, to submit to an examination. The examination must be completed no later than one hundred twenty days after the accident report required under RCW 46.52.070(2) is received by the department unless the department, at the request of the operator, extends the time for examination.

(3) The department may require a driver reported under RCW 46.52.070(2) to submit to an examination, or suspend the person's license subject to RCW 46.20.322, when a serious injury occurred. The examination must be completed no later than one hundred twenty days after the accident report required under RCW 46.52.070(2) is received by the department.

(4) The department may in addition to an examination under this section require such person to obtain a certificate showing his or her condition signed by a licensed physician or other proper authority designated by the department.

(5) Upon the conclusion of ((~~such~~)) an examination under this section the department shall take driver improvement action as may be appropriate and may suspend or revoke the license of such person or permit him or her to retain such license, or may issue a license subject to restrictions as permitted under RCW 46.20.041. The department may suspend or revoke the license of such person who refuses or neglects to submit to such examination.

(6) The department may require payment of a fee by a person subject to examination under this section. The department shall set the fee in an amount that is sufficient to cover the additional cost of administering examinations required by this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 14. The department of licensing may adopt rules as necessary to implement this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 15. Sections 8 through 14 of this act take effect January 1, 1999.

Sec. 16. RCW 46.37.280 and 1987 c 330 s 713 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) During the times specified in RCW 46.37.020, any lighted lamp or illuminating device upon a motor vehicle, other than head lamps, spot lamps, auxiliary lamps, flashing turn signals, emergency vehicle warning lamps, warning lamps authorized by the state patrol and school bus warning lamps, which projects a beam of light of an intensity greater than three hundred candlepower shall be so directed that no part of the high intensity portion of the beam will strike the level of the roadway on which the vehicle stands at a distance of more than seventy-five feet from the vehicle.

(2) Except as required in RCW 46.37.190 no person shall drive or move any vehicle or equipment upon any highway with any lamp or device thereon displaying a red light visible from directly in front of the center thereof.

(3) Flashing lights are prohibited except as required in RCW 46.37.190, 46.37.200, 46.37.210, 46.37.215, and 46.37.300, ((~~and~~)) warning lamps authorized by the state patrol, and light-emitting diode flashing taillights on bicycles.

Sec. 17. RCW 46.61.780 and 1987 c 330 s 746 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Every bicycle when in use during the hours of darkness as defined in RCW 46.37.020 shall be equipped with a lamp on the front which shall emit a white light visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the front and with a red reflector on the rear of a type approved by the state patrol which shall be visible from all distances ((~~from one hundred feet~~)) up to six hundred feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful lower beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle. A lamp emitting a red light visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear may be used in addition to the red reflector. A light-emitting diode flashing taillight visible from a distance of five hundred feet to the rear may also be used in addition to the red reflector.

(2) Every bicycle shall be equipped with a brake which will enable the operator to make the braked wheels skid on dry, level, clean pavement.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 18. The sum of one hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1999, from the highway safety account to the bicycle and pedestrian safety account for the purposes of this act.