Senate Bill sb0324

    Florida Senate - 2007                                   SB 324

    By Senator Bullard





    39-401-07

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to motor vehicle safety;

  3         requiring that guardrails or other barriers be

  4         installed between a highway and an adjacent

  5         canal or waterway; requiring that the

  6         Department of Transportation adopt rules

  7         establishing certain standards governing the

  8         installation of the barriers; requiring that

  9         barriers be installed for existing highways by

10         a specified date; defining the term "highway";

11         providing for installation and maintenance of

12         required barriers by the department or the

13         local governmental entity that maintains the

14         highway adjacent to the barriers; providing an

15         effective date.

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17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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19         Section 1.  Barrier required between a highway and a

20  canal or waterbody.--Each highway that is adjacent to a canal

21  or other waterbody must have a system of guardrails, retention

22  cables, or other barriers between the highway and the canal or

23  waterbody which are installed and maintained in conformance

24  with standards established by rule of the Department of

25  Transportation. The standards must be designed to limit the

26  loss of life by safely preventing an out-of-control motor

27  vehicle from entering the canal or waterbody and may include

28  criteria, such as the width, depth, or proximity of the canal

29  or waterbody to the traveled way of the highway, specifying

30  those areas of the highway where barriers are required. For a

31  highway in existence on July 1, 2007, the barriers required

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2007                                   SB 324
    39-401-07




 1  under this section must be installed on or before December 31,

 2  2009. The Department of Transportation shall adopt rules to

 3  administer this section. As used in this section, the term

 4  "highway" means a road, street, or other way open to the

 5  public for travel by motor vehicles and whose maintenance is

 6  the responsibility of a municipality, a county, or the

 7  Department of Transportation. The barriers required by this

 8  section must be installed and maintained by the governmental

 9  entity responsible for maintaining the highway that is

10  adjacent to a canal or waterbody.

11         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

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14                          SENATE SUMMARY

15    Provides for guardrails or other barriers between a
      highway and an adjacent canal or waterbody. Requires the
16    Department of Transportation to adopt, by rule, certain
      standards governing installation of the barriers.
17    Provides for installation and maintenance of the required
      barriers by the department or local governmental entity
18    responsible for maintaining the adjacent highway.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.