Washington Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Lower Impaired Driving Threshold 

Washington state legislators introduced Senate Bill 5067, which targets the ever-increasing concern of driving under the influence and aims to make the roads safer. The bill would change a significant portion of the current laws surrounding the state's blood alcohol concentration and other intoxicants, lowering the BAC threshold from 0.08 to 0.05. 

Get our free mobile app

Global Context and Need for Change 

The bill's sponsors argue that the 0.05 BAC limit is the norm in most of the industrialized world and has been law in Norway since 1936. Researchers say that states dropping the BAC limit from 0.08 to 0.05 saw an average fatality reduction due to alcohol-impaired driving by 11% annually. At 0.05, a driver's risk of crash involvement is already double that of a sober driver, a risk that triples at a BAC of 0.07. 

In Washington, 2023 was the deadliest year on state roads since 1990, with more than 810 fatalities; half of those involved impaired drivers. Crashes involving impaired drivers rose 59% between 2019 and 2023. With such troubling statistics, the legislature is raising the bar by calling for stronger measures to curtail impaired driving and prevent further fatalities. 

Key Provisions of Senate Bill 5067 

Under the proposed bill, a person would be considered to be driving under the influence if their BAC is 0.05 or higher within two hours of driving—a threshold down from the current level of 0.08. The law would also cover those impaired by drugs, including cannabis, or a combination of alcohol, cannabis, and drugs. 

Another important addition to the statute is the concept of affirmative defenses. Motorists who consume alcohol or cannabis after driving can present the defense that they reached the legal limit after the fact, but they must do so with prior notice to the prosecution. Violations of the DUI laws would generally be considered gross misdemeanors but repeat offenders or those with serious past convictions related to vehicular homicide or assault while impaired would face class B felonies. 

Broader Impact 

The bill also makes changes regarding actual physical control of a vehicle. A person would be considered to be in violation of DUI even while not driving but in actual physical control of the vehicle with a BAC of 0.05 or higher or while impaired by drugs.

Looking Ahead 

By bringing Washington State in line with international norms and lowering the BAC limit, Senate Bill 5067 seeks to combat the heartbreaking trend of increasing crashes and fatalities due to impaired driving. The bill also considers increased sanctions against repeat offenders, focusing on preventing such driving from being a continued public safety concern. 

Lawmakers are pushing for its passage, and residents in Washington could soon see a tectonic shift in how cases of impaired driving are handled—promising safer roads and preventing preventable deaths.