EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
[PERFECTED]
SENATE BILL NO. 189
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BROWN (16) AND SENATOR FITZWATER.
0770S.01P KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 304.022 as enacted by house bill no. 1606, one hundred first general assembly,
second regular session, and section 304.022 as enacted by senate bill no. 26 merged
with senate bills nos. 53 & 60, one hundred first general assembly, first regular session,
and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to emergency vehicles, with a
penalty provision.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 304.022 as enacted by house bill no. 1
1606, one hundred first general assembly, second regular 2
session, and section 30 4.022 as enacted by senate bill no. 26 3
merged with senate bills nos. 53 & 60, one hundred first general 4
assembly, first regular session, are repealed and one new 5
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 304.022, 6
to read as follows:7
[304.022. 1. Upon the immediate approach 1
of an emergency vehicle giving audible signal by 2
siren or while having at least one lighted lamp 3
exhibiting red light visible under normal 4
atmospheric conditions from a distance of five 5
hundred feet to the front of such vehicle or a 6
flashing blue light authorized by section 7
307.175, the driver of every other vehicle shall 8
yield the right-of-way and shall immediately 9
drive to a position parallel to, and as far as 10
possible to the right of, the traveled portion 11
of the highway and thereupon stop and remain in 12
such position until such emergency vehicle has 13 SB 189 2
passed, except when otherwise directed by a 14
police or traffic officer. 15
2. Upon approaching a stationary vehicle 16
displaying lighted red or red and blu e lights, 17
or a stationary vehicle displaying lighted amber 18
or amber and white lights, the driver of every 19
motor vehicle shall: 20
(1) Proceed with caution and yield the 21
right-of-way, if possible with due regard to 22
safety and traffic conditions, by making a lane 23
change into a lane not adjacent to that of the 24
stationary vehicle, if on a roadway having at 25
least four lanes with not less than two lanes 26
proceeding in the same direction as the 27
approaching vehicle; or 28
(2) Proceed with due caution and reduce 29
the speed of the vehicle, maintaining a safe 30
speed for road conditions, if changing lanes 31
would be unsafe or impossible. 32
3. The motorman of every streetcar shall 33
immediately stop such car clear of any 34
intersection and keep it in such position until 35
the emergency vehicle has passed, except as 36
otherwise directed by a police or traffic 37
officer. 38
4. An "emergency vehicle" is a vehicle of 39
any of the following types: 40
(1) A vehicle operated by the state 41
highway patrol, the st ate water patrol, the 42
Missouri capitol police, a conservation agent, 43
or a state or a county or municipal park ranger, 44
those vehicles operated by enforcement personnel 45
of the state highways and transportation 46
commission, police or fire department, sher iff, 47
constable or deputy sheriff, federal law 48
enforcement officer authorized to carry firearms 49
and to make arrests for violations of the laws 50
of the United States, traffic officer, coroner, 51
medical examiner, or forensic investigator of 52
the county medical examiner's office, or by a 53
privately owned emergency vehicle company; 54
(2) A vehicle operated as an ambulance or 55
operated commercially for the purpose of 56 SB 189 3
transporting emergency medical supplies or 57
organs; 58
(3) Any vehicle qualifying as a n emergency 59
vehicle pursuant to section 307.175; 60
(4) Any wrecker, or tow truck or a vehicle 61
owned and operated by a public utility or public 62
service corporation while performing emergency 63
service; 64
(5) Any vehicle transporting equipment 65
designed to extricate human beings from the 66
wreckage of a motor vehicle; 67
(6) Any vehicle designated to perform 68
emergency functions for a civil defense or 69
emergency management agency established pursuant 70
to the provisions of chapter 44; 71
(7) Any vehicle operated by an authorized 72
employee of the department of corrections who, 73
as part of the employee's official duties, is 74
responding to a riot, disturbance, hostage 75
incident, escape or other critical situation 76
where there is the threat of seriou s physical 77
injury or death, responding to mutual aid call 78
from another criminal justice agency, or in 79
accompanying an ambulance which is transporting 80
an offender to a medical facility; 81
(8) Any vehicle designated to perform 82
hazardous substance em ergency functions 83
established pursuant to the provisions of 84
sections 260.500 to 260.550; 85
(9) Any vehicle owned by the state 86
highways and transportation commission and 87
operated by an authorized employee of the 88
department of transportation that is marked as a 89
department of transportation emergency response 90
or motorist assistance vehicle; or 91
(10) Any vehicle owned and operated by the 92
civil support team of the Missouri National 93
Guard while in response to or during operations 94
involving chemical, biological, or radioactive 95
materials or in support of official requests 96
from the state of Missouri involving unknown 97
substances, hazardous materials, or as may be 98
requested by the appropriate state agency acting 99
on behalf of the governor. 100 SB 189 4
5. (1) The driver of any vehicle referred 101
to in subsection 4 of this section shall not 102
sound the siren thereon or have the front red 103
lights or blue lights on except when such 104
vehicle is responding to an emergency call or 105
when in pursuit of an actual or suspected law 106
violator, or when responding to, but not upon 107
returning from, a fire. 108
(2) The driver of an emergency vehicle may: 109
(a) Park or stand irrespective of the 110
provisions of sections 304.014 to 304.025; 111
(b) Proceed past a red or stop signal or 112
stop sign, but only after slowing down as may be 113
necessary for safe operation; 114
(c) Exceed the prima facie speed limit so 115
long as the driver does not endanger life or 116
property; 117
(d) Disregard regulations governing 118
direction of movement or turning in specified 119
directions. 120
(3) The exemptions granted to an emergency 121
vehicle pursuant to subdivision (2) of this 122
subsection shall apply only when the driver of 123
any such vehicle while in motion sounds audible 124
signal by bell, siren, or exhaust whistle as may 125
be reasonably necessary, and when the vehicle is 126
equipped with at least one lighted lamp 127
displaying a red light or blue light visible 128
under normal atmospheric conditions from a 129
distance of five hundred feet to the fr ont of 130
such vehicle. 131
6. No person shall purchase an emergency 132
light as described in this section without 133
furnishing the seller of such light an affidavit 134
stating that the light will be used exclusively 135
for emergency vehicle purposes. 136
7. Violation of this section shall be 137
deemed a class A misdemeanor. ] 138
304.022. 1. Upon the immediate approach of an 1
emergency vehicle giving audible signal by siren or while 2
having at least one lighted lamp exhibiting red light 3
visible under normal atmospheric conditions from a distance 4 SB 189 5
of five hundred feet to the front of such vehicle or a 5
flashing blue light authorized by section 307.175, the 6
driver of every other vehicle shall yield the right -of-way 7
and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and 8
as far as possible to the right of, the traveled portion of 9
the highway and thereupon stop and remain in such position 10
until such emergency vehicle has passed, except when 11
otherwise directed by a police or traffic officer. 12
2. Upon approaching a stationary vehicle displaying 13
lighted red or red and blue lights, or a stationary vehicle 14
displaying lighted amber or amber and white lights, the 15
driver of every motor vehicle shall: 16
(1) Proceed with caution and yield the right-of-way, 17
if possible with due regard to safety and traffic 18
conditions, by making a lane change into a lane not adjacent 19
to that of the stationary vehicle, if on a roadway having at 20
least four lanes with not less than two lanes proceeding in 21
the same direction as the approaching vehicle; or 22
(2) Proceed with due caution and reduce the speed of 23
the vehicle, maintaining a safe speed for road conditions, 24
if changing lanes would be unsafe or impossible. 25
3. The motorman of every streetcar shall immediately 26
stop such car clear of any intersection and keep it in such 27
position until the emergency vehicle has passed, except as 28
otherwise directed by a police or traffic officer. 29
4. An "emergency vehicle" is a vehicle of any of the 30
following types: 31
(1) A vehicle operated by the state highway patrol, 32
the state water patrol, the Missouri capitol police, a 33
conservation agent, or a state , county, or municipal park 34
ranger, those vehicles operated by enforcement personnel of 35
the state highways and transportation commission, police or 36 SB 189 6
fire department, sheriff, constable or deputy sheriff, 37
federal law enforcement officer authorized to carry firearms 38
and to make arrests for violations of the laws of the United 39
States, traffic officer, coroner, medical examiner, or 40
forensic investigator of the county medical examiner's 41
office, or by a privately owned emergency vehicle company; 42
(2) A vehicle operated as an ambulance or operated 43
commercially for the purpose of transporting emerge ncy 44
medical supplies or organs; 45
(3) Any vehicle qualifying as an emergency vehicle 46
pursuant to section 307.175; 47
(4) Any wrecker, or tow truck or a vehicle owned and 48
operated by a public utility or public service corporation 49
while performing emergency service; 50
(5) Any vehicle transporting equipment designed to 51
extricate human beings from the wreckage of a motor vehicle; 52
(6) Any vehicle designated to perform emergency 53
functions for a civil defense or emergency management agency 54
established pursuant to the provisions of chapter 44; 55
(7) Any vehicle operated by an authorized employee of 56
the department of corrections who, as part of the employee's 57
official duties, is responding to a riot, disturbance, 58
hostage incident, escap e or other critical situation where 59
there is the threat of serious physical injury or death, 60
responding to mutual aid call from another criminal justice 61
agency, or in accompanying an ambulance which is 62
transporting an offender to a medical facility; 63
(8) Any vehicle designated to perform hazardous 64
substance emergency functions established pursuant to the 65
provisions of sections 260.500 to 260.550; 66
(9) Any vehicle owned by the state highways and 67
transportation commission and operated by an a uthorized 68 SB 189 7
employee of the department of transportation that is marked 69
as a department of transportation emergency response or 70
motorist assistance vehicle; or 71
(10) Any vehicle owned and operated by the civil 72
support team of the Missouri National G uard while in 73
response to or during operations involving chemical, 74
biological, or radioactive materials or in support of 75
official requests from the state of Missouri involving 76
unknown substances, hazardous materials, or as may be 77
requested by the appr opriate state agency acting on behalf 78
of the governor. 79
5. (1) The driver of any vehicle referred to in 80
subsection 4 of this section shall not sound the siren 81
thereon or have the front red lights or blue lights on 82
except when such vehicle is resp onding to an emergency call 83
or when in pursuit of an actual or suspected law violator, 84
or when responding to, but not upon returning from, a fire. 85
(2) The driver of an emergency vehicle may: 86
(a) Park or stand irrespective of the provisions of 87
sections 304.014 to 304.025; 88
(b) Proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, 89
but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe 90
operation; 91
(c) Exceed the prima facie speed limit so long as the 92
driver does not endanger life or pro perty; 93
(d) Disregard regulations governing direction of 94
movement or turning in specified directions. 95
(3) The exemptions granted to an emergency vehicle 96
pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection shall apply 97
only when the driver of any su ch vehicle while in motion 98
sounds audible signal by bell, siren, or exhaust whistle as 99
may be reasonably necessary, and when the vehicle is 100 SB 189 8
equipped with at least one lighted lamp displaying a red 101
light or blue light visible under normal atmospheric 102
conditions from a distance of five hundred feet to the front 103
of such vehicle. 104
6. No person shall purchase an emergency light as 105
described in this section without furnishing the seller of 106
such light an affidavit stating that the light will be used 107
exclusively for emergency vehicle purposes. 108
7. Violation of this section shall be deemed a class A 109
misdemeanor. 110