Enrolled SB 163: Relating to commercial motor vehicles; and relating to overtaking and passing certain stationary vehicles.
00Enrolled SB 163 01 Relating to commercial motor vehicles; and relating to overtaking and passing certain 02 stationary vehicles. 03 _______________ 04 * Section 1. AS 19.10.300(f)(1) is amended to read: 05 (1) "commercial motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle or a 06 combination of a motor vehicle and one or more other vehicles 07 (A) used to transport passengers or property for commercial 08 purposes; 09 (B) used on [UPON] a land highway or vehicular way or area; 10 [AND] 11 (C) that 12 (i) has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross 13 combination weight rating greater than 26,000 pounds; or 14 (ii) is designed to transport more than 15 passengers,
01 including the driver; and 02 (D) except that the following vehicles meeting the criteria in 03 (A) - (C) of this paragraph are not commercial motor vehicles: 04 (i) emergency or fire equipment that is necessary to the 05 preservation of life or property; 06 (ii) covered farm vehicles operating anywhere in the 07 state [THAT ARE CONTROLLED AND OPERATED BY A 08 FARMER; USED TO TRANSPORT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, 09 FARM MACHINERY, OR FARM SUPPLIES TO OR FROM THAT 10 FARMER'S FARM; NOT USED IN THE OPERATIONS OF A 11 COMMON OR CONTRACT MOTOR CARRIER; AND USED 12 WITHIN 150 MILES OF THE FARMER'S FARM]; and 13 (iii) vehicles used exclusively for purposes other than 14 commercial purposes; 15 * Sec. 2. AS 19.10.399(1) is amended to read: 16 (1) "commercial motor vehicle" means a self-propelled or towed 17 motor vehicle 18 (A) used to transport passengers or property for commercial 19 purposes; 20 (B) used on [UPON] a highway or vehicular way or area; 21 [AND] 22 (C) that 23 (i) has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross 24 combination weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross 25 combination weight, of 10,001 pounds or more [GREATER THAN 26 10,000 POUNDS] for vehicles used in interstate commerce and 14,000 27 pounds or more for vehicles used in intrastate commerce; [OR] 28 (ii) is designed to transport more than 15 passengers, 29 including the driver; or 30 (iii) is used to transport material found by the 31 United States Secretary of Transportation to be hazardous under
01 49 U.S.C. 5103 and is transported in any quantity requiring 02 placarding; and 03 (D) for the purposes of intrastate commerce; [EXCEPT 04 THAT] the following vehicles meeting the criteria in (A) and (B) and either 05 (C)(i) or (ii) [(A) - (C)] of this paragraph are not commercial motor vehicles: 06 (i) emergency or fire equipment that is necessary to the 07 preservation of life or property; 08 (ii) covered farm vehicles operating anywhere in the 09 state [THAT ARE CONTROLLED AND OPERATED BY A 10 FARMER; USED TO TRANSPORT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, 11 FARM MACHINERY, OR FARM SUPPLIES TO OR FROM THAT 12 FARMER'S FARM; NOT USED IN THE OPERATIONS OF A 13 COMMON OR CONTRACT MOTOR CARRIER; AND USED 14 WITHIN 150 MILES OF THE FARMER'S FARM]; 15 (iii) school buses used for school bus operations; 16 (iv) vehicles owned and operated by the federal 17 government unless the vehicle is used to transport property of the 18 general public for compensation in competition with other persons who 19 own or operate a commercial motor vehicle subject to AS 19.10.310 - 20 19.10.399, and except to the extent that regulation of vehicles operated 21 by the federal government is permitted by federal law; and 22 (v) vehicles used exclusively for purposes other than 23 commercial purposes; 24 * Sec 3. AS 19.10.399 is amended by adding new paragraphs to read: 25 (14) "covered farm vehicle" means a straight or articulated vehicle 26 (A) registered in the state with a license plate or other 27 designation issued by the state that allows law enforcement officials to identify 28 it as a farm vehicle; 29 (B) operated by the owner or operator of a farm or ranch, or an 30 employee or family member of an owner or operator of a farm or ranch; 31 (C) used to transport agricultural commodities, livestock,
01 machinery, or supplies to or from a farm or ranch; and 02 (D) not used in for-hire motor carrier operations; 03 (15) "school bus" means a passenger motor vehicle that is designed or 04 used to carry more than 10 passengers in addition to the driver and that is likely to be 05 used to transport pre-elementary, elementary, or secondary school students to and 06 from school; 07 (16) "school bus operations" means the use of a school bus to transport 08 students and school personnel to and from school. 09 * Sec. 4. AS 28.35.185(a) is amended to read: 10 (a) The driver of a vehicle that approaches a stationary emergency vehicle, fire 11 vehicle, law enforcement vehicle, tow truck in the act of picking up a vehicle, vehicle 12 in the act of performing maintenance or road service work, or animal control 13 vehicle being used to perform official duties, when the stationary vehicle is displaying 14 flashing emergency lights on a highway or roadway 15 (1) with two or more lanes traveling in the same direction, unless 16 otherwise directed by law enforcement or emergency personnel, shall 17 (A) if possible in the existing safety and traffic conditions, 18 vacate the lane closest to the emergency vehicle, fire vehicle, law enforcement 19 vehicle, tow truck in the act of picking up a vehicle, vehicle in the act of 20 performing maintenance or road service work, or animal control vehicle 21 being used to perform official duties; or 22 (B) if a lane change under (A) of this paragraph would be 23 impossible, prohibited by law, or unsafe, slow to a reasonable and prudent 24 speed considering the traffic, roadway, and weather conditions; 25 (2) with fewer than two lanes traveling in the same direction, unless 26 otherwise directed by law enforcement or emergency personnel, shall slow to a 27 reasonable and prudent speed considering the traffic, roadway, and weather 28 conditions.