Z-0591.1  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 5368

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State of Washington      56th Legislature     1999 Regular Session

By Senators Haugen, Stevens and Jacobsen

Read first time 01/21/1999.  Referred to Committee on Transportation.

Eliminating head-on collisions on the most dangerous highways.

    AN ACT Relating to eliminating head-on collisions on the most dangerous portions of state highways; adding a new section to chapter 47.04 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  This act may be known and cited as the "Deadly Highway Act of 1999."

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  (1) The legislature finds that:

    (a) The death toll on two-lane, undivided highways in Washington state is too high.  Many highways have high-risk sections where as many as two or more deadly head-on collisions occur each year.

    (b) The past measures used to combat these deaths have proven to have little effect.  These past measures include installation of "rumble strips" and the widening of these roads, both of which have failed to lower the number of deadly collisions.

    (c) Concrete barriers are the most effective head-on collision deterrent.

    (d) This means of prevention is a feasible and effective option, yet it is not in extensive use on two-lane highways at this time.

    (e) The funding for this measure is now available through Referendum Bill No. 49.

    (f) The reduction of head-on collisions after installation of the concrete barriers will eliminate the estimated two thousand five hundred dollar cost of clearing the roads and handling victims after each accident.

    (2) The purposes of this act are to:

    (a) Eliminate the risk of head-on collisions on the sections of highways that have proved to be exceedingly dangerous in the past; and

    (b) Reduce the amount of money spent on accident cleanup on these sections of highway.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 47.04 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) To eliminate head-on collisions on the high-risk sections of highways in Washington state, the department of transportation shall install concrete barriers as accident deterrents.

    (2) Exceptions to this requirement are:

    (a) Multilane highways that already have natural medians in place; and

    (b) The low-risk sections of these highways.

    (3) As used in this section:

    (a) "Dangerous highway" means all highways that have high-risk sections.

    (b) "High-risk section" means any portion of a two-lane, undivided highway on which there are two or more head-on collisions within a six-mile distance per year.

    (c) "Low-risk" means all six-mile portions of a highway on which fewer than two head-on collisions occur each year.

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