SF 1090

2nd Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to traffic regulations; clarifying duty of
driver when passing parked emergency vehicle;
authorizing issuance of citation within four hours
after violation; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004,
section 169.18, subdivision 11.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 169.18,
subdivision 11, is amended to read:

Subd. 11.

Passing parked emergency vehicle; citation;
probable cause.

(a) When approaching and before passing an
authorized emergency vehicle with its emergency lights activated
that is parked or otherwise stopped on or next to a street or
highway having two or more lanes in the same direction, the
driver of a vehicle shall safely move the vehicle to a the lane
farthest away from the emergency vehicle.

(b) When approaching and before passing an authorized
emergency vehicle with its emergency lights activated that is
parked or otherwise stopped on or next to a street or highway
having more than two lanes in the same direction, the driver of
a vehicle shall safely move the vehicle so as to leave a full
lane vacant between the driver and any lane in which the
emergency vehicle is completely or partially parked or otherwise
stopped.

(c) A peace officer may issue a citation to the driver of a
motor vehicle if the peace officer has probable cause to believe
that the driver has operated the vehicle in violation of this
subdivision within the four-hour period following the
termination of the incident or a receipt of a report under
paragraph (d). The citation may be issued even though the
violation was not committed in the presence of the peace officer.

(d) Although probable cause may be otherwise satisfied by
other evidentiary elements or factors, probable cause is
sufficient for purposes of this subdivision when the person
cited is operating the vehicle described by a member of the crew
of an authorized emergency vehicle responding to an incident in
a timely report of the violation of this subdivision, which
includes a description of the vehicle used to commit the offense
and the vehicle's license plate number. For the purposes of
issuance of a citation under paragraph (c), "timely" means that
the report must be made within a four-hour period following the
termination of the incident.

Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.

Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment.