Slimmed-Down Version of DUI Bill Passes Through Legislature

Washington state legislators have passed a slimmed-down version of a DUI bill that was proposed after a pair of high-profile crashes earlier this year.

As The Seattle Times reports, Senate Bill 5912 requires people with previous drunk-driving convictions be held in jail after their second DUI arrest until charges are filed up to three days later.

The legislation also requires ignition interlock devices be installed immediately after a driver is charged for the second DUI—not after a conviction. 

Do you think the new DUI bill goes far enough? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments section.

“There’s a lot more work to be done, but this is a major watershed bill that’s going to save lives,” Roger Goodman (D-Kirkland), chair of the House Public Safety Committee Chairman and a proponent of stronger DUI laws, told the Times.

The bill does not include a provision that would have made a person's third—rather than fifth—DUI conviction a felony. Lawmakers said there were not enough funds in the budget to finance that change.

Morgan F. Williams was killed by a wrong-way driver on SR 520 last April as she traveled to work at Eddie Bauer in Bellevue. Police say Michael A. Robertson was driving under the influence when he made an illegal U-turn near Montlake Boulevard and hit Williams' vehicle head on. He pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide earlier this week.

Shortly before Williams' death, four family members—including a newborn—were hit while crossing an intersection in North Seattle. The two grandparents died at the scene; their daughter-in-law and infant grandson were seriously injured. Mark Mullan, the driver of the vehicle that hit them, had a pending DUI case in Snohomish County and was allegedly under the influence at the time of the collision. 

For more on the DUI bill, click here to read the entire Seattle Times story.