February 18, 2025 Public Hearing – Item 1 <br />EUGENE CITY COUNCIL <br />AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY <br /> Public Hearing: An Ordinance Concerning State Traffic Laws; Amending Section 5.005 of the Eugene Code, 1971; and Providing an Immediate Effective Date Meeting Date: February 18, 2025 Agenda Item Number: 1 Department: Central Services Staff Contact: Travis Smith www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-8402 <br />ISSUE STATEMENT The purpose of this public hearing is to consider amendments to Section 5.005 of the Eugene Code, 1971 (EC) by re-adopting the state’s statutory traffic code provisions. This proposed ordinance updates the Eugene Code to include changes made during the 2024 session by the Oregon State Legislature. Because 2024 legislative changes have already gone into effect, the ordinance provides for an immediate effective date so that the traffic laws that went into effect on January 1, 2025, or before, can be prosecuted in the Eugene Municipal Court. For the ordinance to take immediate effect, requires an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Council on the ordinance. Action on the ordinance is scheduled for February 24, 2025. <br />BACKGROUND Eugene Code (EC) 5.005, State Traffic Laws, incorporates by reference state statutory traffic laws, so that violations of state traffic laws are offenses against the City and, therefore, prosecutable in Eugene Municipal Court. EC 5.005 must be regularly re-adopted to incorporate any changes the Oregon State Legislature made to state traffic laws during its legislative session. For example, during the legislature’s 2024 session, it adopted Senate Bill (SB) 1574, amending state traffic law to, in part, expand the scope of the offense of failure to perform duties of a driver when property is damaged (colloquially known as “hit and run”) to any highway or premises open to the public or any premises adjacent to a highway or premises open to the public. SB 1574 took effect on March 7, 2024; in order to prosecute an offense in municipal court that includes this expanded scope under SB 1574 the Council must re-adopt EC 5.005 to incorporate the state’s expanded “hit and run” law. Historically, each biennium, the City Council updates the Eugene Code to ensure that the Code provisions are consistent with state legislative changes to the Oregon Vehicle Code. EC 5.005 was last updated on February 27, 2024. Since that time, the Legislative Assembly has made changes to the Oregon Vehicle Code, including SB 1574, necessitating an amendment to EC 5.005 in order to maintain consistency between state statutes and the Eugene Code. <br /> CC Agenda Page 1