Brief Description: Increasing penalties for failure to yield to authorized emergency vehicles or police vehicles.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Judiciary (originally sponsored by Senators Honeyford, Oke, Kline, Mulliken and Eide).

Senate Committee on Judiciary
House Committee on Criminal Justice & Corrections

Background: When an emergency vehicle, using its audible and visual signals, or a police vehicle, using an audible signal, is approaching other vehicles, the driver of every other vehicle is required to yield the right of way and drive to a position parallel to and as close as possible to the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway, clear of any intersection. Failure to yield the right of way is a traffic infraction with a base penalty of $37, not including statutory assessments.

Summary: The traffic infraction of failure to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle occurs when a person fails to yield the right of way to an approaching authorized emergency vehicle making use of audible and visual signals or a police vehicle properly making use of an audible signal. The monetary penalty for such a violation is $500 for each offense.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate      46   0
House      97   1   (House amended)
Senate      46   0   (Senate concurred)

Effective: July 24, 2005