Bill Text: MS SB2363 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Flashing blue lights; authorized for personal vehicles of law enforcement officers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2013-02-05 - Died In Committee [SB2363 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2013-SB2363-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2013 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division B
By: Senator(s) McDaniel
Senate Bill 2363
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 63-7-19 AND 63-7-20, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE FULL-TIME LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS TO DISPLAY FLASHING BLUE LIGHTS ON THEIR PERSONAL VEHICLES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 63-7-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-7-19. (1) Except as otherwise provided for unmarked vehicles under Section 19-25-15 and Section 25-1-87, every police vehicle shall be marked with blue lights. Every ambulance and special use EMS vehicle as defined in Section 41-59-3 shall be marked with red lights front and back and also may be marked with white and amber lights in addition to red lights. Every emergency management/civil defense vehicle, including emergency response vehicles of the Department of Environmental Quality, shall be marked with blinking, rotating or oscillating red lights. Official vehicles of a 911 Emergency Communications District may be marked with red and white lights. Every wrecker or other vehicle used for emergency work, except vehicles authorized to use blue or red lights, shall be marked with blinking, oscillating or rotating amber colored lights to warn other vehicles to yield the right-of-way, as provided in Section 63-3-809. Only police vehicles used for emergency work and personal vehicles of persons certified by the Board on Law Enforcement Offer Standards and Training as full-time law enforcement officers may be marked with blinking, oscillating or rotating blue lights to warn other vehicles to yield the right-of-way. Only law enforcement vehicles, fire vehicles, private or department-owned vehicles used by firemen of volunteer fire departments which receive funds pursuant to Section 83-1-39 when responding to calls, emergency management/civil defense vehicles, emergency response vehicles of the Department of Environmental Quality, ambulances used for emergency work, and 911 Emergency Communications District vehicles may be marked with blinking, oscillating or rotating red lights to warn other vehicles to yield the right-of-way. This section shall not apply to school buses carrying lighting devices in accordance with Section 63-7-23.
(2) Any vehicle referred to in subsection (1) of this section also shall be authorized to use alternating flashing headlights when responding to any emergency.
(3) Any vehicle operated by a United States rural mail carrier for the purpose of delivering United States mail may be marked with two (2) amber colored lights on front top of the vehicle and two (2) red colored lights on rear top of the vehicle and alternatively or additionally may be marked with a white, flashing strobe light on the roof of the vehicle so as to warn approaching travelers to decrease their speed because of danger of colliding with the mail carrier as he stops and starts along the edge of the road, street or highway.
SECTION 2. Section 63-7-20, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-7-20. (1) It is unlawful for any person, other than a law enforcement officer on duty or as authorized in Section 63-7-19, to use or display blue lights on a motor vehicle as provided for in Section 63-7-19.
(2) It is unlawful for any person to use or display red lights on a motor vehicle except as provided for in Section 63-7-19. It is not unlawful for the red lights authorized for private or department-owned vehicles used by firemen of volunteer fire departments, as provided in Section 63-7-19, to remain mounted on such vehicles when the lights are not in use.
(3) It is unlawful for any vehicle to use alternating flashing headlights except an emergency vehicle as provided in Section 63-7-19.
(4) A person violating this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013.
