BILL REQ. #:  H-0400.1 

Read first time 01/18/2005.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to operation of a vehicle, street car, rail fixed guideway system, vessel, aircraft, or other conveyance involved in an accident; amending RCW 46.52.060; adding new sections to chapter 46.52 RCW; creating a new section; and prescribing penalties.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds and declares that:
     (a) The state has a compelling interest in preventing fatal vehicle accidents in this state;
     (b) In order to prevent fatal vehicle accidents, it is necessary to analyze and understand the causes of such accidents, including the role played by alcohol;
     (c) The state's compelling interest in preventing fatal vehicle accidents therefore creates a special need beyond normal law enforcement for the collection of evidence of blood alcohol content from drivers involved in fatal vehicle accidents; and
     (d) Because evidence of blood alcohol content diminishes over time, requiring a warrant before that evidence can be collected would be impracticable and would frustrate the state's interest in collecting the information.
     (2) In order to foster the prevention of fatal vehicle accidents, it is the intent of the legislature to:
     (a) Allow law enforcement officers to collect evidence of blood alcohol content from operators in fatal vehicle accidents; and
     (b) Require hospitals to disclose evidence of blood alcohol content that they have collected from operators involved in fatal vehicle accidents to law enforcement.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 46.52 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A person who operates a vehicle within this state is deemed to have given consent, subject to RCW 46.61.506, to a test of his or her breath for the purpose of determining the alcohol concentration in his or her breath if the person is involved in a vehicle accident in which there has been a fatality.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, "vehicle" includes a vehicle as defined in RCW 46.04.670, a street car as defined in RCW 46.04.570, a rail fixed guideway system as defined in RCW 81.104.015, a vessel as defined in RCW 88.02.010, an aircraft as defined in RCW 14.16.010 that is not regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration, or other vehicles not regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration.
     (3) The test of breath must be administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer on the scene of a fatal vehicle accident. The officer shall inform the person of his or her right to refuse the breath test. The officer shall warn the operator that he or she will be guilty of a class 3 civil infraction if he or she refuses to submit to the test.
     (4) The law enforcement officer shall forward the results of the test to the chief of the Washington state patrol.
     (5) If a person is dead, unconscious, or otherwise in a condition rendering him or her incapable of submitting to a breath test, then a blood test must be given, unless it would interfere with medical treatment.
     (6) If, after receiving the warnings under subsection (3) of this section, the person refuses the request of a law enforcement officer to submit to a test of his or her breath, no test may be given.
     (7) A person refusing to submit to a test under subsection (6) of this section commits a class 3 civil infraction under chapter 7.80 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 46.52 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Every hospital shall on or before the tenth day of each month, report in writing to the chief of the Washington state patrol any toxicology report taken during the preceding calendar month from a person hospitalized as a result of an accident in which there has been a fatality that shows that the person may have been under the influence of intoxicating liquor at the time of the accident.
     (2) As used in this section, "hospital" has the same meaning as in RCW 70.41.020.

Sec. 4   RCW 46.52.060 and 1998 c 169 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((It shall be the duty of)) The chief of the Washington state patrol ((to)) shall file, tabulate, and analyze all accident reports, all breath test results collected under section 2 of this act, and all toxicology reports collected under section 3 of this act and ((to)) publish annually, immediately following the close of each fiscal year, and monthly during the course of the year, statistical information based thereon showing the number of accidents, the location, the frequency and circumstances thereof and other statistical information which may prove of assistance in determining the cause of vehicular accidents.
     Such accident reports, breath test results, toxicology reports, and analysis or reports thereof shall be available to the director of licensing, the department of transportation, the utilities and transportation commission, the traffic safety commission, and other public entities authorized by the chief of the Washington state patrol, or their duly authorized representatives, for further tabulation and analysis for pertinent data relating to the regulation of highway traffic, highway construction, vehicle operators and all other purposes, and to publish information so derived as may be deemed of publication value.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.