Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding slow moving vehicles.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1224 BY TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO SLOW MOVING VEHICLES; AMENDING SECTION 49-619, IDAHO CODE, TO2 PROVIDE AN EXCEPTION AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS; AMENDING SEC-3 TION 49-639, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE PROVISIONS REGARDING TURNING OUT OF4 SLOW MOVING VEHICLES; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EF-5 FECTIVE DATE.6

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:7

SECTION 1. That Section 49-619, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby8 amended to read as follows:9 49-619. SLOW MOVING VEHICLES -- RESTRICTIONS AND EXCEPTIONS, EQUIP-10 MENT -- EMBLEMS ON CERTAIN MACHINERY -- LIMITED EXEMPTION. (1) It shall be11 unlawful to operate a slow moving vehicle on the highways at the following12 times and under the following circumstances:13 (a) From one-half (1/2) hour after sunset to one-half (1/2) hour before14 sunrise, unless the vehicle or equipment is equipped with lights as re-15 quired by section 49-916, Idaho Code;16 (b) At a speed in excess of twenty-five (25) miles per hour, unless the17 vehicle or equipment, including towed units of farm equipment, is de-18 signed to safely travel at speeds in excess of twenty-five (25) miles19 per hour, but no such vehicle or equipment shall exceed the posted maxi-20 mum speed limit and shall be operated by a licensed driver; and21 (c) In such a manner as to obstruct the free movement of traffic on the22 highways except when the operator of a slow moving vehicle, farm trac-23 tor, construction equipment, or implement of husbandry determines, in24 the exercise of reasonable judgment based on roadway conditions, equip-25 ment size, and safety considerations, that no safe or size-appropri-26 ate location exists to temporarily exit the roadway or otherwise allow27 traffic to pass.28 (2) A slow moving vehicle shall be equipped with a braking system and29 with a mechanical signaling device as required for other similarly con-30 structed vehicles.31 (3) All slow moving vehicles, farm tractors, road rollers, and imple-32 ments of husbandry shall have affixed at the rear of the vehicle an emblem33 identifying them as slow moving equipment. The Idaho traffic safety commis-34 sion shall recommend to the board the minimum standards for the emblem.35 (4) Emergency and snow removal vehicles owned and operated by the state36 or its political subdivisions when en route to, from, or in the performance37 of activities essential to the public safety, shall be exempt from the provi-38 sions of paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (1) of this section.39

SECTION 2. That Section 49-639, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby40 amended to read as follows:41

2 49-639. TURNING OUT OF SLOW MOVING VEHICLES. On a two-lane highway1 outside an urban area where passing is unsafe due to oncoming traffic or2 other conditions, the driver of a vehicle, including but not limited to a3 vehicle traveling slower than the normal speed of traffic and, a slow mov-4 ing vehicle, a farm tractor, construction equipment, or an implement of5 husbandry, behind which three (3) or more vehicles are formed in line shall6 turn off the roadway at the nearest place designated as a turnout or at the7 next available location where it is safe and reasonable for the vehicle to be8 pulled over in order to permit the following vehicles to pass. Such driver9 shall not be deemed to violate this section if he has not, during the time10 when three (3) or more vehicles are formed in line behind his vehicle, passed11 a designated turnout or location where it would be safe and reasonable for12 the vehicle to be pulled over.13

SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby14 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after15 July 1, 2026.16