Florida Senate - 2024 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1164
Ì319188QÎ319188
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
01/31/2024 .
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The Committee on Transportation (Burton) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Present subsections (54) through (111) of
6 section 316.003, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
7 subsections (55) through (112), respectively, a new subsection
8 (54) is added to that section, and subsection (1) and present
9 subsection (64) of that section are amended, to read:
10 316.003 Definitions.—The following words and phrases, when
11 used in this chapter, shall have the meanings respectively
12 ascribed to them in this section, except where the context
13 otherwise requires:
14 (1) AUTHORIZED EMERGENCY VEHICLES.—Vehicles of the fire
15 department (fire patrol), police vehicles, organ transport
16 vehicles, emergency management vehicles, and such ambulances and
17 emergency vehicles of municipal departments, volunteer ambulance
18 services, public service corporations operated by private
19 corporations, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the
20 Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of
21 Health, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of
22 Corrections as are designated or authorized by their respective
23 departments or the chief of police of an incorporated city or
24 any sheriff of any of the various counties.
25 (54) ORGAN TRANSPORT VEHICLE.–Any dedicated and marked
26 vehicle operated by an organ procurement organization,
27 transplant center, or its contracted service provider to
28 transport organs or surgical teams for organ recovery or
29 transplant. An operator of such vehicle must have completed a
30 16-hour emergency vehicle operator course.
31 (65)(64) PRIVATE ROAD OR DRIVEWAY.—Except as otherwise
32 provided in paragraph (90)(b) (89)(b), any privately owned way
33 or place used for vehicular travel by the owner and those having
34 express or implied permission from the owner, but not by other
35 persons.
36 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section
37 316.072, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
38 316.072 Obedience to and effect of traffic laws.—
39 (5) AUTHORIZED EMERGENCY VEHICLES.—
40 (a)1. The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle, when
41 responding to an emergency call, when transporting organs or
42 surgical teams for organ recovery or transplant while en route
43 to a hospital, an airport, or other designated location, when in
44 the pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law, or
45 when responding to a fire alarm, but not upon returning from a
46 fire;
47 2. A medical staff physician or technician of a medical
48 facility licensed by the state or of a volunteer ambulance
49 service when responding to an emergency in the line of duty in
50 his or her privately owned vehicle, using red lights as
51 authorized in s. 316.2398; or
52 3. The driver of an authorized law enforcement vehicle,
53 when conducting a nonemergency escort, to warn the public of an
54 approaching motorcade;
55
56 may exercise the privileges set forth in this section, but
57 subject to the conditions herein stated.
58 Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 316.2397, Florida
59 Statutes, is amended to read:
60 316.2397 Certain lights prohibited; exceptions.—
61 (3)(a) Vehicles of the fire department and fire patrol,
62 including vehicles of volunteer firefighters as permitted under
63 s. 316.2398, may show or display red or red and white lights.
64 (b) Vehicles of medical staff physicians or technicians of
65 medical facilities licensed by the state or of volunteer
66 ambulance services as authorized under s. 316.2398, ambulances
67 as authorized under this chapter, and buses and taxicabs as
68 authorized under s. 316.2399 may show or display red lights.
69 Vehicles of the fire department, fire patrol, police vehicles,
70 and such ambulances and emergency vehicles of municipal and
71 county departments, volunteer ambulance services, public service
72 corporations operated by private corporations, the Fish and
73 Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Department of
74 Environmental Protection, the Department of Transportation, the
75 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the
76 Department of Corrections as are designated or authorized by
77 their respective department or the chief of police of an
78 incorporated city or any sheriff of any county may operate
79 emergency lights and sirens in an emergency.
80 (c) Organ transport vehicles transporting organs or
81 surgical teams for organ recovery or transplant may show or
82 display red lights and operate sirens while en route to a
83 hospital, an airport, or other designated location.
84 (d) Wreckers, mosquito control fog and spray vehicles, and
85 emergency vehicles of governmental departments or public service
86 corporations may show or display amber lights when in actual
87 operation or when a hazard exists provided they are not used
88 going to and from the scene of operation or hazard without
89 specific authorization of a law enforcement officer or law
90 enforcement agency.
91 (e) Wreckers must use amber rotating or flashing lights
92 while performing recoveries and loading on the roadside day or
93 night, and may use such lights while towing a vehicle on wheel
94 lifts, slings, or under reach if the operator of the wrecker
95 deems such lights necessary. A flatbed, car carrier, or rollback
96 may not use amber rotating or flashing lights when hauling a
97 vehicle on the bed unless it creates a hazard to other motorists
98 because of protruding objects. Further, escort vehicles may show
99 or display amber lights when in the actual process of escorting
100 overdimensioned equipment, material, or buildings as authorized
101 by law.
102 (f) Vehicles owned or leased by private security agencies
103 may show or display green and amber lights, with either color
104 being no greater than 50 percent of the lights displayed, while
105 the security personnel are engaged in security duties on private
106 or public property.
107 Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 316.2398, Florida
108 Statutes, is amended to read:
109 316.2398 Display or use of red or red and white warning
110 signals; motor vehicles of volunteer firefighters or medical
111 staff.—
112 (1) A privately owned vehicle belonging to an active
113 firefighter member of a regularly organized volunteer
114 firefighting company or association, while en route to the fire
115 station for the purpose of proceeding to the scene of a fire or
116 other emergency or while en route to the scene of a fire or
117 other emergency in the line of duty as an active firefighter
118 member of a regularly organized firefighting company or
119 association, may display or use red or red and white warning
120 signals. A privately owned vehicle belonging to a medical staff
121 physician or technician of a medical facility licensed by the
122 state or of a volunteer ambulance service, while responding to
123 an emergency in the line of duty, may display or use red warning
124 signals. An organ transport vehicle, while transporting organs
125 or surgical teams for organ recovery or transplant while en
126 route to a hospital, an airport, or other designated location,
127 may display or use red warning signals. Warning signals must be
128 visible from the front and from the rear of such vehicle,
129 subject to the following restrictions and conditions:
130 (a) No more than two red or red and white warning signals
131 may be displayed.
132 (b) No inscription of any kind may appear across the face
133 of the lens of the red or red and white warning signal.
134 (c) In order for an active volunteer firefighter to display
135 such red or red and white warning signals on his or her vehicle,
136 the volunteer firefighter must first secure a written permit
137 from the chief executive officers of the firefighting
138 organization to use the red or red and white warning signals,
139 and this permit must be carried by the volunteer firefighter at
140 all times while the red or red and white warning signals are
141 displayed.
142 (d) An emergency medical technician, doctor, or paramedic
143 who is using his or her personal vehicle with a red light to
144 respond to an emergency call must have completed a 16-hour
145 emergency vehicle operator course.
146 Section 5. Subsection (4) of section 316.271, Florida
147 Statutes, is amended to read:
148 316.271 Horns and warning devices.—
149 (4) No vehicle shall be equipped with, nor shall any person
150 use upon a vehicle, any siren, whistle, or bell, except as
151 otherwise permitted in this section or s. 316.2397.
152 Section 6. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
153 316.306, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
154 316.306 School and work zones; prohibition on the use of a
155 wireless communications device in a handheld manner.—
156 (3)(a)1. A person may not operate a motor vehicle while
157 using a wireless communications device in a handheld manner in a
158 designated school crossing, school zone, or work zone area as
159 defined in s. 316.003(112) s. 316.003(111). This subparagraph
160 shall only be applicable to work zone areas if construction
161 personnel are present or are operating equipment on the road or
162 immediately adjacent to the work zone area. For the purposes of
163 this paragraph, a motor vehicle that is stationary is not being
164 operated and is not subject to the prohibition in this
165 paragraph.
166 2. Effective January 1, 2020, a law enforcement officer may
167 stop motor vehicles and issue citations to persons who are
168 driving while using a wireless communications device in a
169 handheld manner in violation of subparagraph 1.
170 Section 7. Subsection (1) of section 655.960, Florida
171 Statutes, is amended to read:
172 655.960 Definitions; ss. 655.960-655.965.—As used in this
173 section and ss. 655.961-655.965, unless the context otherwise
174 requires:
175 (1) “Access area” means any paved walkway or sidewalk which
176 is within 50 feet of any automated teller machine. The term does
177 not include any street or highway open to the use of the public,
178 as defined in s. 316.003(90)(a) or (b) s. 316.003(89)(a) or (b),
179 including any adjacent sidewalk, as defined in s. 316.003.
180 Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.
181
182 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
183 And the title is amended as follows:
184 Delete everything before the enacting clause
185 and insert:
186 A bill to be entitled
187 An act relating to the use of lights and sirens on
188 authorized emergency vehicles; amending s. 316.003,
189 F.S.; revising the definition of the term “authorized
190 emergency vehicles”; defining the term “organ
191 transport vehicle”; amending s. 316.072, F.S.;
192 authorizing organ transport vehicles to exercise
193 certain privileges; amending s. 316.2397, F.S.;
194 providing that certain vehicles transporting organs
195 and surgical teams for organ recovery or transplant
196 may show or display red lights and operate sirens
197 while en route to a hospital, an airport, or other
198 designated location; amending s. 316.2398, F.S.;
199 authorizing the display or use of red warning signals
200 by organ transport vehicles under certain
201 circumstances; amending s. 316.271, F.S., conforming a
202 provision to changes made by the act; amending ss.
203 316.306 and 655.960, F.S.; conforming cross
204 references; providing an effective date.