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COUNCILMEETINGDATE 3une 15 2010 ITEM

CITYOFFEDERALWAYCITYCOUNCILAGENDABLL

SUBJECT TRAFFICCODEUPDATE INATTENTNE DRIVINGPOLICY QUESTION SHOULD TH E CITY COUNCIL AMEND CHAPTER SS OF TH E FEDERAL WAY REVISEDCODE TOADDANEW SECTIONPROHIBITING INATTENTIVEDRIVING

COMMITTEE PRHSPSCATEGORY

ConsentCity Councii Business

STAFF REPORTBYPATRICIA RICHARDSONiOrdinanceResolution MEETINGDATE June 82010Public HearingOther

DEPT Law

Background In Washington State there are an increasing number of incidents of dr ivers opera ting motorvehicles while they are distracted In an attempt to stop this t rend Governor Gregoire proc la imed May 27 2010as Drive Nce Day to encourage drivers to stop driving while they are distracted Distracted drivingcontributes to crashes that on average kill approximately 7 0 Q people in Washington each year Several othercities in Wash ing ton inc lud ing Bel levue Des Moines Fife Issaquah Kent Kirkland Puya l lup SeaTac Seatt leTukwila and Yakima have passed legislation to make inattentive driving an infractionCurrently th e Fede ra l Way Revised Code FWRC does no t a llow fo r th e infraction of inattentive driving Thisproposed ordinance would amend Chapter 85 FWRC to ad d the infraction of inattentive driving to th e F edera lWay Revised Cod e Th is new infraction would pravide police officers with another enforcement tool to keep ourroads safeAt tachments Proposed ordinance amending Chapter 85 FWRC to add infraction of inattentive drivingOptions C onsid ered 1 Approve the proposed ordinance modify ing Chapter 85 FWRC

2 Reject th e proposed ordinance modifying Chapter85 FWRCSTAFF RECOMMENDATION Approve Option 1 to forward th e proposed o rd inance to First Reading a t th eJune 15 City Council MeetingCITYMANAGERAPPROVALJwSIIUECTORAPPROVAL v t ACommittee Coancil Committee CouncilCOMMITTEERECOMMENDATION

Committee Chair Com eeMember CommiYeer

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PROPOSED COUNCILMOTIONS1READING O F ORDINANCE DATEImove to forward the ordinance to a sec ond reading for enactment on t h eJuly 6 201 D consent agenda2EADINGOF ORDINANCE CONSENTAGENDADATE move app rova l ofOption 1 modngedera l WayRevised Code Chapter 85 to include the infraction of inattentive driving

BELOW TO BECOMPLETEDBYCITY CLERKS OFFICECOUNCILACTION

APPROVED COUNCILBILL ZDENIED 1sT reading pgTABLEDEFERREDNOCTION Enactment readingMOVEDTOSECONDREADNG ardinances only ORDNANCE

EVISED02006 RESOLUTION

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CITYATTORNEYSFFICEMEMORANDUMDATE JLJNE 92010TO CITYCOUNCILMEMBERSCC BRIAN WILSON CITYMANAGEROLCEHIEFFROM PATRICIA RICHARDSON CITY ATTORNEY

AMY JO PEARSALL ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEYSUBJECT FOLLOWUPR OM JUNE 8 2 0 10 PRHSPS COMMITTEEMEETING INATTENTIVEDRIVING

On June 8 2 01 0 sta ff presented a proposed o rd inance tha t would add the infraction of InattentiveDriving to the Federal YyTraffic CodeFCChap ter85 During discussion of this proposedord inance a concern was raised t ha t th e word careful vas not defined The Counc il C o imn itt ee vo ted toforward the orcl inance to First Reading a t the June 1 5 City Council Meeting with the c a v e a t that research b econducted to see ifcareful was defined elsewhere in the code or if a defmition would be needed

The proposed code secuon vould read a s follows8515nattention1 No person shall operate a mota r vehicle upon a street alley or w a y s open to the public withinth e City in an inattenuve manner2 Inattenuve manner means driving in such a manner so a s to fa il to m aintain a carefullo okout fo r persons or p roper ry in the direction of t ravel3Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a n infraction fo r which themonetary penalty shall be 2500

The specific concern is with proposedFRC 515hich u s e s the term careful in the definition o finattentivemanner

Pursuant to Counc il c l ir ec t ion staff conducted research and de te rm ined t ha t careful is no t defined ineither the Federal Way Revised Code or in the Revised Code ofWash ington A l though the term careful isused in various code sections todefine other terms it is noatermhat is defined statutorily A least 16other c it ie s h a v e a n inattenrive driving code provision that contains the s a m e definition of inattentivemanner that uses th e term careful Of those 16 cities none of them inc lude a definition of careful

The rule o f statutory construcuon requires that words b e given their plain and ordinary meaning unless acontrary intent appears The plain and ordinary meaning of careful is set forth in its dictionary definition a se x e Y C i s i n g caution or showing c a r e or attention cautiously attentive If the term careful were to ever b echallenged the cour t would look to the plain and ordinary meaning o f the word If Council finds that theplain and ordinary meaning of the word careful is acceptab le then no addit ional language is needed in theproposed ordinance If Council prefers that a different definition b e a s s i g n e d to t h i s tertn then a defuurionsetting forth that specific def in it ion would need to be includedKm010afeport inattentive dxiving

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ORDINANCENO

ANORDINANCEof th e City of Federa l WayWashington relating toInattentive Driving adding a new sec tio n to Chapter85 FWRCVehicles andTraffic

WHEREAS Chapter 85 of th e Federa l Way Revised Code FWRC s e t s forth theregulat ions regard ing veh ic les and traffic and

WHEREAS there are increasing incidents ofdrivers operating motor vehicles while they aredistracted and

WHEREAS Governor Gregoire proclaimed M ay 27 2010 a s Drive Nice Day to encouragedrivers to stop driving while they are distracted and

WHEREAS distracted driving contributes to crashes that on average kill approximately 700people in Washington each year and

WHEREAS several other cities in Wash ing ton inc lud ing Bellevue Des Moines Fife

Issaquah Kent Kirkland Puyallup SeaTac Seattle Tukwila and Yakima have p a s s e d legislation tomake inattentive driving an infraction and

WHEREAS th e City Counci l of Federal Way finds it is in the best interest of the c i tizens toadd a new la w prohib i t ing inattentive d r iv ing in th e City of Federal Way

NOW THEREFORE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FEDERAL WAYWASHINGTON DO ORDAINAS FOLLOWS

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Section lA new section is added to Chapter 85 FWRC to read a s follows85151attention1No person shal l operate a motorvehicle upon a street alleoyrwavs open to th e public withinthe Citv in an inattentive manner2nattentive manner means driving in such a manner so as to fa il to maintain a careful lookoutfor persons o r proper ty in t he d irec t ion o f travel3Anv person violatinq th e p r ov is ions o f this sect ion is g uiltv o f an infraction fo r which th emonetarv penaltv shall be 25000

Section 2 Severabil i ty Should any section subsection paragraph sentence clause orp h r a s e of th is chapter or its application to any person or situation b e declared unconstitutional orinvalid fo r any reason such decision shall not affect the validity o f the remaining port ions o f thischapter or its appl icat ion to any other person or situation The City Council o f the City o f FederalWay hereby declares that it would have adopted th is chapter and each section subsectionsentence clauses phrase o r po rt ion thereof irrespective of the fa c t t ha t any one or moresections subsections sentences c lauses phrases ar portions be declared inval id orunconstitutional

Section 3 Correct ions The City Clerk and the codifiers of this ardinance a r e authorizedto make necessary corrections to this ordinance including but no t l imited to the correction ofscrivenerericaerrars references ordinance number ing sectionubsection numbers and anyreferences thereto

Section 4 Rati f icat ion Any act consistent with the authority and prior to the effectivedate of t h is o r d inance is he reby ratified and affirmed

Section 5 Effective Date This ordinance sha l l take effect and be in force thirty30 daysfrom and after its passage and publication a s provided by law

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PASSEDby the CityCouncil of theCityofFederalWay this day of 2010CITYOF FEDERALWAY

MAYOR LINDA KOCHMARATTEST

CITY CLERK CAROL MCNEILLY CMC

APPROVED ASTO FORM

CITY ATTORNEY PATRICIAARICHARDSONFILEDWITHTHECITYCLERKPASSED BYTHECITYCOUNCILPUBLISHEDEFFECTIVEDATEORDINANCENOKdnance21aficod e update inattentive drivingOrdinanceNo0 Page 3 of 3

Rev39