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ORDINANCE: O-2005-11
SUBJECT: Amending Title 10 of the Lakewood Municipal Code pertaining to Vehicles and Traffic.
RECOMMENDATION: Mayor and City Council approve the proposed ordinance.
SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND OF SUBJECT MATTER:
The proposed ordinance amends Title 10, pertaining to vehicles and traffic, by making the following changes:
· Speed limits. The proposed amendment updates the subsection regulating the speed of trash trucks to mirror the provision in state law. It applies the maximum speed of forty-five miles per hour only to single rear axle vehicles in the business of transporting trash that exceeds 20,000 pounds. The maximum speed previously applied to all trash trucks.
· Illegal Use of the Passing Lane. During the 2004 legislative session, the legislature created a new traffic infraction, illegal use of the passing lane. It is now a traffic infraction under state law for any person driving on a highway, with a speed limit of 65 miles per hour or more to drive in the passing lane when not passing other vehicles. This law does not apply if the traffic in the non-passing lane is so heavy that merging from the passing lane would be unsafe. A passing lane is defined as the farthest lane to the left if there are two or more lanes of traffic moving in the same direction. The proposed addition creates a municipal version of this traffic infraction. This legislation was passed to reduce the incidents of aggressive driving that occur due to the frustration caused by slow moving vehicles occupying the left lane and causing traffic jams.
· Interference with Official Devices. The proposed amendment adds a new subsection that makes it a traffic infraction to use an electronic device to unlawfully cause a traffic light to change. This provision mirrors the new state traffic infraction.
· Spilling Loads on Highways. The proposed amendment updates the traffic violation, which addresses spilling loads on streets or highways to now regulate the prevention of spilling aggregate, trash, or recyclables. Last session, the legislature adopted these changes in two separate bills. The proposed changes add trash and recyclables to the items which must be covered by a tarp or some other means to keep the contents from blowing, dropping, or leaking onto the highway. Exempts motor vehicles collecting trash or recyclables that are within a one-mile radius of the motor vehicle's last collection point.
A new penalty has been added for driving a car or pickup, which does not have its load properly secured or covered. If the violation proximately causes bodily injury to another person, it is a class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense. If the violation does not result in bodily injury, it is a class 3 traffic offense. The state legislature passed this language in response to an incident in which a fatal accident was caused by an overstuffed chair, which fell onto the roadway from the back of a pickup.
· Splash Guards. The proposed addition duplicates the state traffic provision that regulates the equipping of vehicles with splash guards. Numerous vehicles such as passenger-carrying motor vehicles and trucks with an empty weight of ten thousand pounds or less are exempted from the splash guard requirement.
· Windows Unobstructed - Certain Materials Prohibited. The proposed amendment brings the municipal provision into compliance with the state equipment regulation concerning the tinting of motor vehicle windows.
· Number Plates to be Attached. The proposed addition makes it a municipal traffic infraction to fail to properly attach a license plate to the front and rear of a motor vehicle. Motorcycles, street rod vehicles, trailers, semi trailers, and other vehicles or pieces of equipment drawn by a motor vehicle are exempted.
· Booster Seats. Two years ago, legislation was passed that required children, who are four or five year-olds and less than fifty-five inches tall, to ride in booster seats. Starting August 1, 2003, police officers were empowered to issue warning tickets to drivers. Actual traffic tickets for the booster seat violation could not be issued until August 1, 2004. The proposed amendment updates the municipal child restraint provision to include the following requirements now found in state law:
Children less than one year old and weighing less than twenty pounds must be properly restrained in a rear-facing child restraint system.
Children ages one through three, weighing more than twenty pounds but less than forty pounds, must still be restrained in a forward-facing child restraint system.
Children who are four or five years old and less than fifty-five inches tall must be properly restrained in a child booster seat or with a child safety belt-positioning device.
Children ages six through fifteen must be properly restrained in a seat belt.
· Compulsory Insurance. The proposed amendment updates the compulsory insurance provision to reflect changes made this past legislative session to the penalties for driving without compulsory insurance. Under state law, the minimum penalty for a first offense for driving without compulsory insurance has been raised from one hundred dollars to five hundred dollars; half of which may be suspended if the defendant has obtained compulsory insurance by the time of sentencing. For a second or subsequent offense within five years, the minimum fine has been raised from two hundred dollars to one thousand dollars, half of which may be suspended if the defendant has obtained compulsory insurance by the time of sentencing. Under state law, these increased penalties became effective for all offenses occurring on or after January 1, 2005.
While the state statute mandates that the fines are mandatory minimum penalties, the proposed ordinance revision does not track the state statute. The proposed amendment allows the municipal judges to retain their discretion in imposing the fines.
In addition to increasing the fines, the legislature mandated that fifty percent of the fines collected be transferred to the law enforcement agency that issued the ticket for no proof of insurance. The proposed amendment mirrors state law by requiring that half of the fines collected for violations of the compulsory insurance law go to the police department. Therefore, the proposed amendment specifies that fifty percent of the fines collected for this traffic offense would be transferred to the general fund in support of the Lakewood Police Department.
DATE OF FIRST READING: February 28, 2005
DATE OF SECOND READING: March 28, 2005
ORIGINATED BY: Police Department
STAFF PERSON RESPONSIBLE: Janet Young, Deputy City Attorney, 303-987-7108
Sergeant Jeff Rogers, 303-987-7283
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED: Ordinance O-2005-11
Redline Version
SUBMITTED BY:
Ronald R. Burns, Chief of Police, Lakewood Police Department
REVIEWED BY:
Joni Inman, Director Mayor and City Manager's Office
Michael J. Rock, City Manager
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