Florida Senate - 2024                                    SB 1164
       
       
        
       By Senator Burton
       
       
       
       
       
       12-00927B-24                                          20241164__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the use of lights and sirens on
    3         emergency vehicles; amending s. 316.2397, F.S.;
    4         authorizing that certain vehicles transporting organs
    5         and surgical teams for organ recovery and transplant
    6         may operate emergency lights and sirens while en route
    7         to a hospital, an airport, or other designated
    8         location; providing requirements for operators of such
    9         vehicles; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 316.2397, Florida
   14  Statutes, is amended to read:
   15         316.2397 Certain lights prohibited; exceptions.—
   16         (3)(a) Vehicles of the fire department and fire patrol,
   17  including vehicles of volunteer firefighters as permitted under
   18  s. 316.2398, may show or display red or red and white lights.
   19         (b) Vehicles of medical staff physicians or technicians of
   20  medical facilities licensed by the state or of volunteer
   21  ambulance services as authorized under s. 316.2398, ambulances
   22  as authorized under this chapter, and buses and taxicabs as
   23  authorized under s. 316.2399 may show or display red lights.
   24         (c) Vehicles of the fire department, fire patrol, police
   25  vehicles, and such ambulances and emergency vehicles of
   26  municipal and county departments, volunteer ambulance services,
   27  public service corporations operated by private corporations,
   28  the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Department of
   29  Environmental Protection, the Department of Transportation, the
   30  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the
   31  Department of Corrections as are designated or authorized by
   32  their respective department or the chief of police of an
   33  incorporated city or any sheriff of any county may operate
   34  emergency lights and sirens in an emergency.
   35         (d) Vehicles designated as emergency vehicles for the sole
   36  purpose of transporting organs and surgical teams for organ
   37  recovery and transplant may operate emergency lights and sirens
   38  while en route to a hospital, an airport, or other designated
   39  location. Such vehicles include, but are not limited to,
   40  dedicated and marked vehicles operated by organ procurement
   41  organizations, transplant centers, or their contracted service
   42  providers. Operators of such emergency vehicles must be licensed
   43  as a provider of prehospital or interfacility advanced life
   44  support services or basic life support transportation services
   45  pursuant to s. 401.25 and licensed to drive such emergency
   46  vehicles pursuant to the requirements of s. 401.281.
   47         (e) Wreckers, mosquito control fog and spray vehicles, and
   48  emergency vehicles of governmental departments or public service
   49  corporations may show or display amber lights when in actual
   50  operation or when a hazard exists provided they are not used
   51  going to and from the scene of operation or hazard without
   52  specific authorization of a law enforcement officer or law
   53  enforcement agency. Wreckers must use amber rotating or flashing
   54  lights while performing recoveries and loading on the roadside
   55  day or night, and may use such lights while towing a vehicle on
   56  wheel lifts, slings, or under reach if the operator of the
   57  wrecker deems such lights necessary. A flatbed, car carrier, or
   58  rollback may not use amber rotating or flashing lights when
   59  hauling a vehicle on the bed unless it creates a hazard to other
   60  motorists because of protruding objects. Further, escort
   61  vehicles may show or display amber lights when in the actual
   62  process of escorting overdimensioned equipment, material, or
   63  buildings as authorized by law.
   64         (f) Vehicles owned or leased by private security agencies
   65  may show or display green and amber lights, with either color
   66  being no greater than 50 percent of the lights displayed, while
   67  the security personnel are engaged in security duties on private
   68  or public property.
   69         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.