legal advice

“C.J.’s Law”, a law passed in 1998 in the State of Washington, requires certain cube-style deliver trucks to have rear crossview mirrors or a back-up device to alert the driver when someone or something is behind the vehicle.
A young child, C.J. Norton, was tragically killed in Lynnwood, Washington in a parking lot when a delivery truck backed over him. The desire for a new law to protect not only children but all people from accidents like this was pushed for by C.J.’s grandparents. Now mirrors or other devices are required to be installed on these types of delivery trucks as a way of warning the drivers of impending danger before they begin to back up their vehicles. The law was passed by the Washington State Legislature in 1998 and became effective in September of that year.
Now every cargo type truck registered or based in Washington State that is equipped with a cube-style walk-in cargo box, up to eighteen feet in length, and is used to deliver goods or services commercially must be equipped with a rear crossview mirror or other backup device to alert the driver that someone or something is behind the vehicle. This law does not include recreational vehicles like motorhomes or rental trucks used to transport personal property like moving vans.
The required backup devices can be rear mounted crossview mirrors, laser detector, video cameras, or any type of motion sensitive device that can detect movement of a person or object at a minimum of six feet from the rear of the truck.
Many smaller than eighteen foot long vans and delivery vehicles are exempt from this law; for instance minivans, postal type delivery jeeps, and standard sized cargo vans.