FINAL BILL REPORT

                  HB 2333

                          C 85 L 00

                     Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Clarifying rights and responsibilities of bicyclists.

Sponsors:  Representatives Schual‑Berke, Dickerson, Carlson, Hurst and D. Sommers.

House Committee on Transportation

Senate Committee on Transportation

Background:

No statute identifies the legal status of bicyclists when they are on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk.  In June 1999, the Washington Supreme Court found that the protection afforded pedestrians in crosswalks, marked or unmarked, was extended to bicyclists when they are within a crosswalk.  There is also no law that provides guidance to law enforcement when confronting a bicycle rider who is impaired by alcohol or drugs.

Summary of Bill:

The rights and duties of bicyclists are affected in two ways.  First, the holding in the 1999 Washington State Supreme Court case is codified.  Bicyclists in a crosswalk have all the rights and duties of pedestrians; drivers of vehicles must yield the right-of-way.  Bicyclists also have all the rights and duties of pedestrians on sidewalks.  However, bicyclists must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians when they are in crosswalks or on sidewalks.

Second, law enforcement officers may transport bicyclists impaired by alcohol or any drug to a safe place or release the rider to a competent person.  If assistance is refused by the rider, no lawsuit may later be brought against a governmental agency for acts resulting from the refusal.  Procedures are established under which an officer may impound an impaired rider's bicycle.

Votes on Final Passage:

House925

Senate396

Effective:June 8, 2000