Washington is in a record traffic-safety crisis, especially from impaired driving | Opinion

Washington state faces a public-safety crisis. Traffic deaths in our state are at a record high. According to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, the number of annual traffic fatalities in our state increased from 538 in 2019 to 810 in 2023, almost a 50% hike.

Of these 810 traffic deaths, just over half (416) involved a drug- or alcohol-impaired driver, while 270 dealt with excessive speed, 172 involved not wearing a seatbelt or other restraint, and 136 involved a distracted driver. These deaths could have been avoided if our laws were stronger and more drivers were careful and responsible.

While Washington is seeing an increase in traffic deaths, other states are seeing a decrease.

There are several reasons for the alarmingly high number of road deaths in Washington. Impaired driving tops the list. When nearly half of our driving fatalities are caused by impaired driving, it is a serious problem. Excessive speed is another reason for traffic accidents and deaths, as it reduces a driver’s reaction time.

Just a few weeks ago, an estimated 45 vehicles were involved in a chain-reaction collision on southbound Interstate 5 between Seattle and Tacoma. Fortunately, there were no fatalities and only a few minor injuries, but our state’s largest freeway was closed for several hours, causing a 5-mile backup and forcing many drivers to make time-consuming detours. Collisions like this are often associated with bad weather. But a Washington State Patrol trooper cited excessive speed, not weather, as the cause for the chain collision on I-5 that day.

Two other reasons for our unsafe roads and highways are weak state laws and a very low number of law-enforcement officers in Washington. For several years Washington has ranked 51st in America (all 50 states plus the District of Columbia) for the number of officers per capita. When drivers don’t see officers on patrol, they may be more inclined to act illegally.

Fortunately, steps are being taken at the state level to correct this problem.

The Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission has worked with legislators and other state officials to expand the number of criminal-justice training facilities in our state. They include new facilities in Spokane, Pasco and Vancouver. A fourth regional law-enforcement training academy will open in February 2025 in Arlington.

The wait time for an officer to start training used to be about one year, when the only option was the state training center in Burien. Now it’s down to 30 days or less. This is very encouraging.

Following action by the Legislature this year, the state also now will pay 100% of the cost for local law- enforcement agencies to send recruits to training. Before, police and sheriff’s departments had to pay 25% of the training costs for each recruit.

Also, the Legislature has taken modest steps to reduce impaired driving.

A fourth DUI conviction has been a felony for a decade (although Washington should go to three convictions, like Oregon and Idaho), and the “lookback” period for reviewing prior impaired-driving convictions was expanded to 15 years, instead of 10. The Legislature adopted Initiative 2113, which restores police pursuits and should help officers catch dangerous drivers. I-2113 became state law in June.

But the Legislature needs to do more to reduce impaired driving. This year I introduced Senate Bill 5791, a bipartisan proposal, supported by the State Patrol, that would have required WSP to establish a program to evaluate the effectiveness of using what amounts to an oral swab to collect information on the scene when impaired driving is suspected. Although it was not passed, this bill made great progress in the first year it was considered.

Several other states have implemented roadside oral-swab testing (which detects six drugs and alcohol) on suspected impaired drivers, with positive results. If the Legislature adopts this policy in 2025, it would help reduce impaired driving and lower the number of traffic deaths in our state.

The Legislature should consider other ways to reduce impaired driving, including:

• lowering the minimum blood-alcohol-content (BAC) level from 0.08 to 0.06 for impaired driving;
• making it easier to use oral-swab test results and providing additional protections for law-enforcement agencies related to storing the samples;
• making a third DUI a felony; and
• expanding therapeutic courts so all Washington counties have access to them.

Recent steps taken by the state should help make our roads safer, but we have a long way to go.

This story was originally published November 19, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Washington is in a record traffic-safety crisis, especially from impaired driving | Opinion."