A bill supported by Democrats in the state Legislature would prevent police in Washington from stopping automobiles for nonmoving violations, such as an expired tab or a faulty headlight.
The Washington branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability consider House Bill 1512 to be their most important issue. If cops have no other reason to stop someone, they will send warnings in the mail for nonmoving violations instead of pulling people over.
Officers still have the ability to pull motorists over for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to, any criminal conduct, not wearing a seat belt, not having license plates, or having a registration that lapsed more than a year ago.
The same applies to “any equipment violation that poses a significant danger to the safety of the operator or other people on the road.” This includes having both headlights or taillights off at night, a broken windshield that hampers visibility, or a dragging muffler.
Additionally, police officers may still issue citations for nonmoving infractions during a stop, but they would first need to pull the driver over for a different reason.
Supporters contend that by reducing the number of stops for minor offenses, officers would have more time to focus on drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol or who are speeding.
“If there were people walking down the street [with] machetes, I’d rather have our law enforcement officers addressing those folks with machetes as opposed to writing tickets for parking violations,” the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Chipalo Street, D-Seattle, stated to the House Community Safety Committee on Monday.
The Traffic Safety for All Act would create a grant program to assist residents in low-income areas in avoiding non-moving violations. Programs to offset registration fees and vouchers for auto maintenance and bike helmets could be funded with this money.
Officers are required to notify drivers of the reason for the traffic stop as soon as they pull someone over. And unless they discover information that makes them suspect something different, they could only interview the driver about that matter.
Additionally, police would want written approval before searching the vehicle, and they may only do so if the reason for the stop was a serious criminal or misdemeanor.
Officers would have to start gathering data on all traffic stops starting in 2026, including the demographics of the drivers and the reason for each stop.
Similar proposals have been discussed by lawmakers for years. Earlier iterations of the measure forbade cops from stopping anyone who had expired tabs or misdemeanor warrants, even if they were more than a year old.
Stops for nonmoving infractions, according to proponents of police accountability, disproportionately impact persons of color and accomplish little to enhance public safety. Additionally, low-income areas may find the fines to be a hardship.
An InvestigateWest review of traffic stop data from 2018 to 2023 found that state troopers check Native American drivers’ vehicles five times more frequently than they do white drivers’. Additionally, more Black and Hispanic drivers were searched by troopers than white drivers.
According to a Vera Institute of Justice investigation, Washington State Patrol troopers discovered contraband during 0.27% of traffic encounters between 2009 and 2019.
Rep. Dan Griffey, R-Allyn, stated that he would be “willing to take the chance” if it meant, for instance, locating a victim of human trafficking in a car, notwithstanding the facts.
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The plan is also opposed by police authorities, who claim it is ill-timed in light of the sharp increase in road fatalities in recent years. More than 800 individuals lost their lives on Washington roads in 2023, the most since 1990. Half of those deaths were due to impairment, while one-third were due to speeding.
“If the Legislature wants a person to be able to drive a car without headlights or taillights, we recommend that you simply just eliminate those provisions from the law,” James McMahan, policy director for the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs stated. “To keep those provisions on the books but prevent police from enforcing them, we think, undermines the rule of law.”
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There is no public hearing scheduled for the Senate version of the legislation. A committee vote on the House bill is not yet planned.
The proposal would go into effect ninety days following the April 27 adjournment of the session.