BILL REQ. #:  H-4888.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/08/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to the enforcement of certain school or playground crosswalk violations; amending RCW 46.61.235, 46.61.245, 46.61.261, and 46.61.440; adding a new section to chapter 46.61 RCW; prescribing penalties; and providing an effective date.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 46.61.235 and 2000 c 85 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The operator of an approaching vehicle shall stop and remain stopped to allow a pedestrian or bicycle to cross the roadway within an unmarked or marked crosswalk when the pedestrian or bicycle is upon or within one lane of the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling or onto which it is turning. For purposes of this section "half of the roadway" means all traffic lanes carrying traffic in one direction of travel, and includes the entire width of a one-way roadway.
     (2) No pedestrian or bicycle shall suddenly leave a curb or other place of safety and walk, run, or otherwise move into the path of a vehicle which is so close that it is impossible for the driver to stop.
     (3) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply under the conditions stated in RCW 46.61.240(2).
     (4) Whenever any vehicle is stopped at a marked crosswalk or at any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection to permit a pedestrian or bicycle to cross the roadway, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass such stopped vehicle.
     (5)(a) If a person is found to have committed an infraction under this section within a school, playground, or crosswalk speed zone created under RCW 46.61.440, the person must be assessed a monetary penalty equal to twice the penalty assessed under RCW 46.63.110. The penalty may not be waived, reduced, or suspended.
     (b) Fifty percent of the moneys collected under this subsection must be deposited into the school zone safety account.

Sec. 2   RCW 46.61.245 and 1965 ex.s. c 155 s 36 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this chapter every driver of a vehicle shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian upon any roadway and shall give warning by sounding the horn when necessary and shall exercise proper precaution upon observing any child or any obviously confused or incapacitated person upon a roadway.
     (2)(a) If a person is found to have committed an infraction under this section within a school, playground, or crosswalk speed zone created under RCW 46.61.440, the person must be assessed a monetary penalty equal to twice the penalty assessed under RCW 46.63.110. The penalty may not be waived, reduced, or suspended.
     (b) Fifty percent of the moneys collected under this subsection must be deposited into the school zone safety account.

Sec. 3   RCW 46.61.261 and 2000 c 85 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian or bicycle on a sidewalk. The rider of a bicycle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian on a sidewalk or crosswalk.
     (2)(a) If a person is found to have committed an infraction under this section within a school, playground, or crosswalk speed zone created under RCW 46.61.440, the person must be assessed a monetary penalty equal to twice the penalty assessed under RCW 46.63.110. The penalty may not be waived, reduced, or suspended.
     (b) Fifty percent of the moneys collected under this subsection must be deposited into the school zone safety account.

Sec. 4   RCW 46.61.440 and 2003 c 192 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Subject to RCW 46.61.400(1), and except in those instances where a lower maximum lawful speed is provided by this chapter or otherwise, it shall be unlawful for the operator of any vehicle to operate the same at a speed in excess of twenty miles per hour when operating any vehicle upon a highway either inside or outside an incorporated city or town when passing any marked school or playground crosswalk when such marked crosswalk is fully posted with standard school speed limit signs or standard playground speed limit signs. The speed zone at the crosswalk shall extend three hundred feet in either direction from the marked crosswalk.
     (2) A county or incorporated city or town may create a school or playground speed zone on a highway bordering a marked school or playground, in which zone it is unlawful for a person to operate a vehicle at a speed in excess of twenty miles per hour. The school or playground speed zone may extend three hundred feet from the border of the school or playground property; however, the speed zone may only include area consistent with active school or playground use.
     (3) A person found to have committed any infraction relating to speed restrictions within a school or playground speed zone shall be assessed a monetary penalty equal to twice the penalty assessed under RCW 46.63.110. This penalty may not be waived, reduced, or suspended.
     (4) School districts may erect signs that comply with the uniform state standards adopted and designated by the department of transportation under RCW 47.36.030, informing motorists of the increased monetary penalties assessed for violations of RCW 46.61.235, 46.61.245, or 46.61.261 within a school, playground, or crosswalk speed zone created under subsection (1) or (2) of this section.
     (5) The school zone safety account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. Fifty percent of the moneys collected under subsection (3) of this section and the moneys collected under RCW 46.61.235(5), 46.61.245(2), or 46.61.261(2) shall be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only by the Washington traffic safety commission solely to fund projects in local communities to improve school zone safety, pupil transportation safety, and student safety in school bus loading and unloading areas. Only the director of the traffic safety commission or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for expenditures until July 1, 1999, after which date moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 46.61 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A crossing guard who is eighteen years of age or older and observes a violation of RCW 46.61.235(5), 46.61.245(2), or 46.61.261(2) may prepare a written report on a form provided by the state patrol or another law enforcement agency indicating that a violation has occurred. A crossing guard or school official may deliver the report to a law enforcement officer of the state, county, or municipality in which the violation occurred, but not more than seventy-two hours after the violation occurred. The crossing guard must include in the report the time and location at which the violation occurred, the vehicle license plate number, and a description of the vehicle involved in the violation.     
     (2) The law enforcement officer may initiate an investigation of the reported violation after receiving the report described in subsection (1) of this section by contacting the owner of the motor vehicle involved in the reported violation and requesting the owner to supply information identifying the driver. If, after an investigation, the law enforcement officer is able to identify the driver and has reasonable cause to believe a violation of RCW 46.61.235(5), 46.61.245(2), or 46.61.261(2) has occurred, the law enforcement officer shall prepare a notice of traffic infraction and have it served upon the driver of the vehicle.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   This act takes effect July 1, 2010.