It is unlawful for any vehicle unladen or with load to exceed a height of fourteen feet above the level surface upon which the vehicle stands. This height limitation does not apply to authorized emergency vehicles or repair equipment of a public utility engaged in reasonably necessary operation. The provisions of this section do not relieve the owner or operator of a vehicle or combination of vehicles from the exercise of due care in determining that sufficient vertical clearance is provided upon the public highways where the vehicle or combination of vehicles is being operated; and no liability may attach to the state or to any county, city, town, or other political subdivision by reason of any damage or injury to persons or property by reason of the existence of any structure over or across any public highway where the vertical clearance above the roadway is fourteen feet or more; or, where the vertical clearance is less than fourteen feet, if impaired clearance signs of a design approved by the state department of transportation are erected and maintained on the right side of any such public highway in accordance with the manual of uniform traffic control devices for streets and highways as adopted by the state department of transportation under chapter 47.36 RCW. If any structure over or across any public highway is not owned by the state or by a county, city, town, or other political subdivision, it is the duty of the owner thereof when billed therefor to reimburse the state department of transportation or the county, city, town, or other political subdivision having jurisdiction over the highway for the actual cost of erecting and maintaining the impaired clearance signs, but no liability may attach to the owner by reason of any damage or injury to persons or property caused by impaired vertical clearance above the roadway.
RCW 46.44.020
Maximum height—Impaired clearance signs.
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case 89 Wash. 2d 443 - Boeing Co. v. State (1978)
Most recently applied in State/wa Dept Of Transportation, Res. v. Mullen Trucking 2005 Ltd., Pets. (October 2018)
1984 c 7 s 52; 1977 c 81 s 1; 1975-'76 2nd ex.s. c 64 s 7; 1971 ex.s. c 248 s 1; 1965 c 43 s 1; 1961 c 12 s 46.44.020
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.