Apr 12 Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.

 

HB 1003 just passed the Senate (44-1). It has to go back to the House because there was an amendment in the Senate (technical correction). It looks very likely the bill will make it to the governor.

 

Did the road designation issue get resolved in the later version? Other than that snafu, I thought it was a well thought out bill.

 

There bill continues to include the right to ride on non-highway roads, provided the local government owning the land allows such riding. Senator Karen Fraser (D-Olympia) added an amendment to create a study committee on ORV noise. This is similar to the study authorized in Senator Tim Sheldon's (D-Shelton) bill that passed the Senate earlier in the year. The study was agreed to by the supporters of the bill and the bill's sponsor. Here is the text of the underlying committee amendment that was substituted: Senate Committee Amendment.

 

-- IN THE HOUSE --
Apr 19 House concurred in Senate amendments.
Passed final passage; yeas, 98; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 0. (Roll Calls)

 

UPDATE

-- IN THE SENATE --
Apr 22 President signed.
-- OTHER THAN LEGISLATIVE ACTION --
Delivered to Governor. (Original Bill) (PDF Version)

 

Okay, maybe someone who is better at reading these things can help me out a bit here. It says in in Section 3 (1) (F) that you cannot ride on the shoulder, slope or median of a highway road. It then goes on in Section 6 (1) to say that you must have a plate, registration, etc., to operate a motor vehicle on highway roads. If they do not say you cannot ride on the highway, just that you have to have a plate, are they leaving a gap open here for someone to plate their ATV and ride on say, state highways? Did I miss something? If I did, please point me to the appropriate place so I can read the RCW section.

 

The governor is scheduled to sign EHB 1003 tomorrow after 3 p.m. Again, it leaves it up to the government owning the property to set the rules. It would behoove us to start working with our counties and the USFS, DNR to open up new riding areas.

As for the riding on highways, there are other restrictions besides just having a plate in the regulations. Headlights and brakelights must be a certain height, you must have turn signals, mirrors, horn and other requirements. Here are the RCW's for authorized road use: RCW 46.37. Look at 46.37.522-539.

 

Thanks RidinLCWA.

 

I guess I need to start looking at the Road Legal accessories for my Sportsman. :-)