Washington State DUI Policies Criticized

According to a recent report published by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Washington was identified as one of twenty five states that has not made necessary changes to state laws in an effort to combat drunk driving. Acting Chairman of the NTSB held a meeting early this morning in Washington, D.C. to chastise the states, especially Washington, for their lack of progress in the fight against drunk drivers.

During the NTSB's meeting, the Board reiterated their recommendation for a model program based on eleven elements designed to curb drunk driving. Since the board issued its' recommendations several years ago, at least thirty one states have adopted one or more elements of the model program. While no state has adopted all eleven elements, five states, including California, New Hampshire, Ohio, Utah, and Virginia, stand out for their significant progress based on the NTSB's recommendations. Despite this good news, the NTSB emphasized that the remaining forty five states need to step up their game significantly in order to comply with the NTSB's recommendations.

The most widely noted problem in Washington's attempt to decrease the number of driving under the influence arrests is the fact that state legislators declared sobriety checkpoints unconstitutional in the mid 1980s. In an effort to encourage the renewed adoption of sobriety checkpoints, the Washington Traffic Safety Commission launched a campaign to emphasize the effectiveness of sobriety checkpoints. However, this effort failed earlier this year. In the absence of checkpoints, the state of Washington has been forced to bulk up their roaming patrols in order to compensate for the absence of police checkpoints.

Despite the failure of last years' efforts to reestablish sobriety checkpoints in Washington, traffic safety advocates are hopeful that they will be able to rally support for future legislation. "We do believe that checkpoints could be set up with safeguards that would absolutely make it legal and not impinge on people's freedom," said Spokeswoman for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, M.J. Haught.

The NTSB also faulted the state of Washington for allowing plea bargains for first time DUI defendants, not impounding cars driven by drunk driving suspects, and failing to create a statewide system of DUI courts to track repeat DUI offenders.

Although the state of Washington still considers sobriety checkpoints unconstitutional, the state legislature has strengthened other laws related to driving under the influence violations. Beginning January 1, 2009, DUI offenders will face enhanced sentencing requirements which will require the installation of ignition interlock devices that would prevent a vehicle from starting or continuing to operate if alcohol is detected on the driver's breath.

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