Bill 38 2012

An Act to amend the Highway Traffic Act with respect to safety precautions to take when approaching roadside assistance vehicles

Note: This Act amends the Highway Traffic Act.  For the legislative history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed Legislative History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

   1.  Subsection 1 (1) of the Highway Traffic Act is amended by adding the following definition:

"roadside assistance vehicle" means a tow truck or another motor vehicle that is equipped to,

  (a)  remove from a highway a motor vehicle that is damaged, disabled or inoperative, whether by hoisting it, by towing it or by loading it and carrying it away, or

  (b)  provide service or minor repair on a highway to a motor vehicle that is damaged, disabled or inoperative, including battery service, changing tires and providing entry to a locked motor vehicle; ("véhicule d'assistance routière")

   2.  (1)  Section 62 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

Lamps on tow trucks

   (1.1)  A tow truck shall carry one or more lamps that display an intermittent amber warning light, where at least one lamp is permanently mounted on the top of the vehicle and is clearly visible from all directions for a distance of at least 100 metres.

Lamps on other roadside assistance vehicles

   (1.2)  A roadside assistance vehicle that is not a tow truck may carry one or more lamps that display an intermittent amber warning light that is clearly visible from all directions for a distance of at least 100 metres.

Use of amber lamps on tow trucks

   (1.3)  A person shall not turn on or use the amber warning lamps on a tow truck unless the vehicle is,

  (a)  being attached to another vehicle;

  (b)  drawing another vehicle onto or along the travelled portion of a highway; or

   (c)  being used to help a person repair, start or move a vehicle that is stopped on a highway.

Same, other roadside assistance vehicles

   (1.4)  A person shall not turn on or use the amber warning lamps on a roadside assistance vehicle that is not a tow truck unless the vehicle is stopped on a highway and being used to help a person repair, start or move another vehicle that is stopped on the highway.

   (2)  Subsection 62 (14.1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Restriction on front lights

   (14.1)  In addition to the lighting requirements in this Part, a police department vehicle may carry lamps that cast red and blue lights or an amber light, but no other motor vehicle shall carry any lamp that casts red and blue lights to the front.

   3.  Subsections 159 (2) and (3) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:

Slow down on approaching stopped vehicle

   (2)  Upon approaching either of the following vehicles that is stopped on a highway, the driver of a vehicle travelling on the same side of the highway shall slow down and proceed with caution, having due regard for traffic on and the conditions of the highway and the weather, to ensure that the driver does not collide with the stopped vehicle or endanger any person outside of the stopped vehicle:

    1.  An emergency vehicle with its lamp producing intermittent flashes of red light or red and blue light.

    2.  A roadside assistance vehicle or a police department vehicle with its lamps producing intermittent flashes of amber light.

Same, multiple lanes of traffic

   (3)  Upon approaching either of the following vehicles that is stopped on a highway with two or more lanes of traffic on the same side of the highway as the side on which the stopped vehicle is located, the driver of a vehicle travelling in the same lane in which the stopped vehicle is located or in a lane that is adjacent to the stopped vehicle, in addition to slowing down and proceeding with caution as required by subsection (2), shall move into another lane if the movement can be made in safety:

    1.  An emergency vehicle with its lamp producing intermittent flashes of red light or red and blue light.

    2.  A roadside assistance vehicle or a police department vehicle with its lamps producing intermittent flashes of amber light.

Commencement

   4.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

   5.  The short title of this Act is the Highway Traffic Amendment Act (Roadside Assistance Vehicles), 2012.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Highway Traffic Act. At present, the driver of a motor vehicle is required to slow down upon approaching an emergency vehicle that is stopped on the same side of a highway as that on which the driver is travelling. The Bill extends that requirement to cover cases where a driver approaches a roadside assistance vehicle that is stopped on that side.