ARIZONA:SB1023 was signed by the Governor on 4/26/10

OFF THE WIRE
SB1023 was signed by the Governor on 4/26/10
SB1023 involves minor revisions to the existing ARS 28-672, 675 and 676.
Current Arizona Revised Statute - 28-672- Motor Vehicle Accidents; Death; Injury -
- describes 7 Right Of Way violations, 2 of them are Running a Red Light and Left Turns at Intersections, which would pertain to motorists – the other 5 pertaining to Crosswalks, Pedestrians, meeting or overtaking a School Bus and Stopping at Stop Signs.
The penalties for violating these Right Of Ways are invoked when the crash results in Serious Physical Injury (SPI) or Death.
The Current Penalties for a person who violates ARS28-672, involve:
- Completion of Traffic Survival School
- Possible Community Restitution
- “POSSIBLE” Suspension of license – for 90 days SPI or 180 death
- A restitution MAY be awarded to victim of SPI, not to exceed $10,000 AND
- A person who violates this section of code is guilty of a class 3 misdemeanor, except in the case of death for which there is a maximum fine of $1,000.
ALL of this above code in 28-672, pertains to the person with a VALID DRIVERS LICENSE. IF the violating driver is driving on a REVOKED or SUSPENDED license, the same Right Of Way Violations automatically become a CLASS 4 Felony for causing Death, as described in 28-675 and CLASS 5 Felony for causing SPI as described in 28-676.
SB1023 will make the following changes:
- ADD 3 categories, pertaining to ‘merging’, ‘improper lane change’ and ‘pulling out from intersections’, to the existing ROW violation categories in all 3 statutes.
- ADD that upon a Second or Subsequent Violation of 28-672 within a 36 month period, that the court “SHALL” not “MAY” suspend the violators license for 90/180 days.
AND
- ADD a Classification of driver under 28-675 and 676, referring to the driver that ‘Does NOT have a valid License or Endorsement’, which is currently not addressed.