Washington may lower the threshold for DUIs after Senate passes new limit on blood alcohol concentration

OLYMPIA – Washington could soon become the second state to adopt a stricter standard for driving after consuming alcohol.

The Washington Senate passed legislation Wednesday that would lower the standard for driving under the influence from 0.08% to 0.05%. The bill, which now heads to the House for consideration, passed 26-23. Most Democrats backed the bill, though six Democrats opposed it. Most Republicans voted no, but two supported it.

Washington would join Utah and become the second state in the country with the lower limit. Around the world, more than 150 countries, including France, Germany, Italy, South Korea and Australia, have implemented lower standards, while others have zero tolerance policies for alcohol.

The effects from driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.05% include reduced coordination, difficulty steering and a reduced response time, according to the traffic safety commission.

Washington lowered the standard for blood alcohol levels from 0.10% to 0.08% in 1999. Gov. Bob Ferguson backs the proposal, Nathan Olson, a senior policy adviser for the governor’s office, told the House Community Safety committee earlier this month.

“DUIs aren’t caught by noticing that somebody is drunk. They’re caught by noticing that dangerous driving, and this bill won’t change that. It just updates the blood alcohol level in the law to a number that we know is impaired based on what we know from research today,” Olson said. “This bill will make our roads safer and ensure that Washingtonians don’t get behind the wheel when it would be dangerous to do so just because they’re under 0.08.”

Mark McKechine, external relations director for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, told the committee that the current limit is misleading to drivers. According to a November study he cited, 1 in 4 of those who drink said they did not think they could be impaired if they were under 0.08%.

“The current limit is currently sending them the wrong message and confusing them about when it is safe to drive,” McKechine said.

According to data from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, 36% of the 209 fatal crashes in Spokane County between 2017 and 2021 involved drivers who consumed alcohol before the crash. Across the state, 32% of fatal crashes during this time frame involved a driver who consumed alcohol.

During floor debate Wednesday, bill sponsor Sen. Jon Lovick, D-Mill Creek, a former member of the Washington State Patrol, said “drivers with a blood alcohol content of 0.05, 0.06 and 0.07 are not good for the community.”

“Impairment starts with the first alcoholic beverage,” Lovick said. “I hope Washington state will join the state of Utah and most other countries around the world in making it illegal to drive with a blood alcohol content above 0.05.”

Sen. Jeff Holy, R-Spokane, a former Spokane police detective, said Wednesday that driving while intoxicated “is a serious event, a serious business.”

“And I’m not minimizing it, trivializing, or not addressing it head-on. I absolutely support keeping impaired drivers off of the road,” Holy said.

However, Holy said the “vast, vast, vast majority” of those he arrested for driving while intoxicated had a blood alcohol content of 0.15% or above, nearly twice the current limit in the state.

“There’s a reason we need aggressive enforcement and prosecution of DUIs in this state,” Holy said. “But my argument with this bill is that we’re at the point of diminishing returns, and we are addressing people who are not impaired.”

Holy said that while there’s some data behind the limit lawmakers set, “they’re simply numbers that we assign to statutory definitions.” The new limit, Holy said, would be hard for law enforcement who are not trained to the standard to enforce.

“This bill is well-intended, but may have as many consequences as it does any marginal benefit,” Holy said.