A measure to decrease the authorized restrict for drunk driving in Washington cleared its first legislative hurdle Thursday.
If handed, Washington would be a part of Utah as the one state with a 0.05% blood alcohol focus restrict. Different states have thought-about related laws, however haven’t handed it.
Utah made the transfer in 2018. The state was additionally the primary to decrease the restrict from 0.1% to 0.08% within the Eighties.
After the change from 0.08% to 0.05%, Utah noticed a 20% drop in deadly crashes, however that determine crept again up throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, in keeping with nationwide traits.
The invoice in Washington is sponsored by Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek. Lovick was a longtime Washington State Patrol trooper earlier than serving as Snohomish County sheriff.
“I see driving behavior beyond anything I could have imagined when I started as a state trooper,” Lovick informed the Senate Legislation & Justice Committee this week. “Drivers are speeding, following too close, passing on the shoulders, running red lights, driving aggressively. Drunk drivers have made our communities unsafe.”
Opponents argue the laws, Senate Invoice 5067, would elevate the legal responsibility threat for bars and different institutions that promote alcohol.
Site visitors deaths have risen quickly in recent times, from 538 in 2019 to 809 in 2023, based on the Washington Site visitors Security Fee. The 2023 determine was probably the most deaths on Washington roads since 1990.
Of these 809 deaths, impaired drivers have been concerned in about half.
In comparison with these driving sober, drivers with a blood alcohol focus over 0.05% are twice as prone to crash, mentioned Mark McKechnie, the director of exterior relations for the visitors security fee. When that rises to 0.07%, the chance triples.
Early estimates for the primary half of 2024 confirmed a marked decline in deaths on Washington roads, based on the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration.
The decrease authorized restrict would take impact July 1, 2026.
As a part of the laws, the Washington Site visitors Security Fee would run a marketing campaign to tell the general public of the brand new authorized restrict. The Washington State Institute for Public Coverage must consider the impacts of the brand new regulation in a report submitted to the Legislature.
By means of background
Lovick and others have tried repeatedly in recent times to decrease the authorized restrict. The measure has by no means reached the Senate flooring.
Final yr, one of many proposal’s chief backers, Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, expressed frustration after the Senate handed over his drunk driving invoice and as a substitute took up laws to solidify “The Evergreen State” as Washington’s official nickname.
Specialists have mentioned consuming a beer or a glass of wine with dinner wouldn’t land drivers above the lowered authorized restrict.
Two hours after his first drink, a 180-pound man would attain 0.05% after consuming three beers or three glasses of wine. The identical is true after two hours for a 140-pound girl, after two beers or glasses of wine.
Worldwide, greater than 100 international locations have authorized limits of 0.05% or decrease.
The issues
As in years previous, hospitality trade teams oppose the laws. They’ve argued the proposal might harm bars and different institutions that depend on alcohol gross sales to remain afloat.
Julia Gorton, a lobbyist for the Washington Hospitality Affiliation, famous it’s already unlawful to drive with a 0.05% blood alcohol focus if officers see clear indicators of impairment.
This laws “will impact those who decide to stop drinking before they are impaired,” she mentioned. “These are individuals choosing to behave responsibly, who will now be subject to the strongest and strictest DUI penalties in the country.”
The Washington Wine Institute’s Govt Director Josh McDonald mentioned it will be arduous for servers to establish impairment on the decrease authorized restrict so they may minimize off service.
Jason Lantz, of the Washington Affiliation of Felony Protection Legal professionals, famous Colorado and New York even have 0.05% limits, however violations at that stage include decrease penalties.
He really useful the same two-tier system, with the 0.05% restrict thought-about “driving after consumption” as a substitute of driving below the affect.
Amy Freedheim, the chair of the Felony Site visitors Unit within the King County prosecutor’s workplace, tried to assuage issues. She argued the decrease restrict wouldn’t result in extra arrests or lawsuits towards bars held chargeable for crashes brought on by impaired drivers.
On Thursday, Sen. Phil Fortunato, R-Auburn, provided an modification to Lovick’s invoice, reducing a blood alcohol focus restrict already in state regulation that brings stiffer penalties. The modification would have dropped the restrict from 0.15% to 0.12%.
Penalties for first-time offenders on the greater threshold embrace a minimal $500 wonderful and a minimum of two days in jail, 30 days of digital house monitoring or a 120-day 24/7 sobriety program.
Beneath the 0.15% stage, drunk driving penalties drop to a minimal wonderful of $350 and a minimum of sooner or later in jail, 15 days of digital house monitoring or a 90-day sobriety program.
“Right now you go from .08 to .15. There’s nothing in the middle,” Fortunato mentioned.
Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, mentioned she didn’t disagree with Fortunato’s change, however acknowledged the political actuality for the proposal.
“I think it has been very challenging to get this bill out of the Senate with even the decrease to .05,” she mentioned. “Let’s try to focus on getting the limit to .05, and then let’s continue working toward making sure that we are addressing the penalties.”
The committee accredited Lovick’s proposal with out Fortunato’s modification.
The Home model of the invoice is about for a committee listening to Tuesday.