BILL REQ. #: H-3863.1
| State of Washington | 63rd Legislature | 2014 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 02/04/14.
AN ACT Relating to smoking in motor vehicles carrying minors; adding a new section to chapter 46.61 RCW; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 A new section is added to chapter 46.61 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) A person who smokes a lighted pipe, cigar, or cigarette in a
moving or parked motor vehicle carrying any persons who appear to be
under the age of eighteen years old is guilty of a traffic infraction.
(2) Infractions under this section may not become part of the
driver's record under RCW 46.52.101 and 46.52.120. A finding that a
person committed a traffic infraction under this section may not be
made available to insurance companies or employers.
(3) It is a defense to an infraction issued pursuant to subsection
(1) of this section if proven by the defendant by a preponderance of
the evidence that all passengers in the vehicle are eighteen years of
age or older.
(4) The monetary penalty for a violation of this section is one
hundred twenty-five dollars. This amount may be increased by a law
enforcement officer or a court to two hundred fifty dollars for the
second infraction and any infractions thereafter.
(5) Through December 31, 2014, law enforcement officers may issue
only a verbal warning for violating subsection (1) of this section.
(6) From January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2016, a law
enforcement officer may issue a traffic infraction for violating
subsection (1) of this section only as a secondary action when a driver
of a motor vehicle has been detained for a suspected violation of this
title or an equivalent local ordinance or some other offense.
(7) Beginning January 1, 2017, a law enforcement officer may
initiate a traffic stop and issue a traffic infraction for a suspected
violation of subsection (1) of this section.