SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 788
92ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR CHILDERS.
Pre-filed December 1, 2003, and ordered printed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
2475S.03I
AN ACT
To repeal sections 302.775, 304.022, and 307.175, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to the operation of emergency vehicles, with an emergency clause.
Section A. Sections 302.775, 304.022, and 307.175, RSMo, are repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 302.775, 304.022, and 307.175, to read as follows:
302.775. The provisions of sections 302.700 to 302.780 shall not apply to:
(1) Any person driving a farm vehicle as defined in section 302.700;
(2) Any active duty military personnel, members of the reserves and national guard on active duty, including personnel on full-time national guard duty, personnel on part-time training and national guard military technicians, while driving military vehicles for military purposes;
(3) Any person who drives emergency or fire equipment necessary to the preservation of life or property or the execution of emergency governmental functions under emergency conditions;
(4) Any person qualified to operate the equipment under subdivision (3) of this section when operating such equipment in other functions such as parades, special events, repair, service or other authorized movements;
(5) Any person driving or pulling a recreational vehicle, as defined in sections 301.010 and 700.010, RSMo, for personal use; and
[(5)] (6) Any other class of persons exempted by rule or regulation of the director, which rule or regulation is in compliance with the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 and any amendments or regulations drafted to that act.
304.022. 1. Upon the immediate approach of an emergency vehicle giving audible signal by siren or while having at least one lighted lamp exhibiting red light visible under normal atmospheric conditions from a distance of five hundred feet to the front of such vehicle or a flashing blue light authorized by section 307.175, RSMo, the driver of every other vehicle shall yield the right-of-way and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and as far as possible to the right of, the traveled portion of the highway and thereupon stop and remain in such position until such emergency vehicle has passed, except when otherwise directed by a police or traffic officer.
2. Upon approaching a stationary emergency vehicle displaying lighted red or red and blue lights, the driver of every motor vehicle shall:
(1) Proceed with caution and yield the right-of-way, if possible with due regard to safety and traffic conditions, by making a lane change into a lane not adjacent to that of the stationary vehicle, if on a roadway having at least four lanes with not less than two lanes proceeding in the same direction as the approaching vehicle; or
(2) Proceed with due caution and reduce the speed of the vehicle, maintaining a safe speed for road conditions, if changing lanes would be unsafe or impossible.
3. The motorman of every streetcar shall immediately stop such car clear of any intersection and keep it in such position until the emergency vehicle has passed, except as otherwise directed by a police or traffic officer.
4. An "emergency vehicle" is a vehicle of any of the following types:
(1) A vehicle operated by the state highway patrol, the state water patrol or a state park ranger, those vehicles operated by enforcement personnel by the division of motor carrier and railroad safety of the department of economic development, police or fire department, sheriff, constable or deputy sheriff, federal law enforcement officer authorized to carry firearms and to make arrests for violations of the laws of the United States, traffic officer or coroner or by a privately owned emergency vehicle company;
(2) A vehicle operated as an ambulance or operated commercially for the purpose of transporting emergency medical supplies or organs;
(3) Any vehicle qualifying as an emergency vehicle pursuant to section 307.175, RSMo;
(4) Any wrecker, or tow truck or a vehicle owned and operated by a public utility or public service corporation while performing emergency service;
(5) Any vehicle transporting equipment designed to extricate human beings from the wreckage of a motor vehicle;
(6) Any vehicle designated to perform emergency functions for a civil defense or emergency management agency established pursuant to the provisions of chapter 44, RSMo;
(7) Any vehicle operated by an authorized employee of the department of corrections, who as part of the employee's official duties, is responding to a riot, disturbance, hostage incident, escape or other critical situation where there is the threat of serious physical injury or death, responding to mutual aid call from another criminal justice agency, or in accompanying an ambulance which is transporting an offender to a medical facility;
(8) Any vehicle designated to perform hazardous substance emergency functions established pursuant to the provisions of sections 260.500 to 260.550, RSMo.
5. (1) The driver of any vehicle referred to in subsection 4 of this section shall not sound the siren thereon or have the front red lights or blue lights on except when such vehicle is responding to an emergency call or when in pursuit of an actual or suspected law violator, or when responding to, but not upon returning from, a fire;
(2) The driver of an emergency vehicle may:
(a) Park or stand irrespective of the provisions of sections 304.014 to 304.026;
(b) Proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation;
(c) Exceed the prima facie speed limit so long as the driver does not endanger life or property;
(d) Disregard regulations governing direction of movement or turning in specified directions;
(3) The exemptions [herein] granted to an emergency vehicle pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection shall apply only when the driver of any such vehicle while in motion sounds audible signal by bell, siren, or exhaust whistle as may be reasonably necessary, and when the vehicle is equipped with at least one lighted lamp displaying a red light or blue light visible under normal atmospheric conditions from a distance of five hundred feet to the front of such vehicle.
6. No person shall purchase an emergency light as described in this section without furnishing the seller of such light an affidavit stating that the light will be used exclusively for emergency vehicle purposes.
7. Violation of this section shall be deemed a class C misdemeanor.
307.175. Motor vehicles and equipment which are operated by any member of an organized fire department, ambulance association, or rescue squad, whether paid or volunteer, may be operated on streets and highways in this state as an emergency vehicle under the provisions of section 304.022, RSMo, while responding to a fire call or ambulance call or at the scene of a fire call or ambulance call and while using or sounding a warning siren and [while] using or displaying thereon fixed, flashing or rotating blue lights, but sirens and blue lights shall be used only in bona fide emergencies. Permits for the operation of such vehicles equipped with sirens or blue lights shall be in writing and shall be issued and may be revoked by the chief of an organized fire department, organized ambulance association, or rescue squad and no person shall use or display a siren or blue lights on a motor vehicle, fire, ambulance, or rescue equipment without a valid permit authorizing the use. Permit to use a siren or lights as heretofore set out does not relieve the operator of the vehicle so equipped with complying with all other traffic laws and regulations. Violation of this section constitutes a class A misdemeanor.
Section B. Because immediate action is necessary to ensure the efficient operation of emergency vehicles, section A of this act is deemed necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, welfare, peace and safety, and is hereby declared to be an emergency act within the meaning of the constitution, and section A of this act shall be in full force and effect upon its passage and approval.