Clark County DUI / DWI Law Blog

Washington's legislature is considering new penalties for drunk driving convictions. One idea they won't revisit are sobriety checkpoints. The state did use them in the 1980s, but they were ruled unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court in 1988.

The state legislature has attempted to reinstate DUI checkpoints, but the effort has failed due to a conflict with the state constitution, which contains very specific language regarding a state resident's right to privacy. It is, in fact, a stronger privacy protection than what is offered in the United States Constitution. Most legal experts in Washington think the best way to allow for the checkpoints is to amend the state constitution.

Police in Washington believe that alcohol was a factor in an accident that occurred on May 3, 2013. Two women were traveling in a 1999 Acura when the car went off the road and landed on a ditch. The car stopped after flipping onto its top. The driver was a 32-year-old woman, and the passenger was a 38-year-old woman. The two women were taken to the Mason General Hospital to be treated for their injuries.

State troopers investigating the accident believe that the crash was caused when the tires of the car went off the road, causing the driver to lose control. They believe that the driver was under the influence of alcohol, and they are pressing charges of drunk driving against her.

The Washington legislature is currently considering an amendment to state DUI laws that would require harsher penalties. For a first offense, a person charged with drunk driving will be arrested. A second or subsequent offense would carry mandatory jail time. Supporters of the law cite two recent Washington cases to show why they wish for the law to pass.

On April 30, officers stopped a driver who could not exit his vehicle without assistance. The man allegedly refused to take a breath test. Officers transported the man to the hospital to have his blood drawn. The results of the blood test were not released. The driver has four prior DUI arrests.

Washington state legislators are slowing down on passing some changes to DUI laws in proposed legislation that some saw as too ambitious. The decision came only a week after the bill was introduced as the "most aggressive" drunk driving legislation in state history. It contained a provision prohibiting anyone with three DUI convictions from consuming alcohol for 10 years, which lawmakers are now dropping. Lawmakers crafted the tough bill in response to two fatal DUI crashes in Seattle.

However, law enforcement officials complained that some of the stricter provisions of the proposed bill were too costly to implement or ineffective. Consequently, lawmakers decided to slow down on implementing some planned changes and eliminated several elements. Along with the alcohol ban, they dropped an alternative to prison involving a statewide sobriety program. Lawmakers also slowed down on a provision that would require vehicles impounded during DUI arrests to be equipped with ignition-interlock devices before being returned to the owner. The revised bill only requires cars owned by people with previous DUI convictions to have it installed within 10 days after the arrest.

When Washington residents are pulled over under the suspicion that they are driving under the influence of alcohol, it is critical to be aware of their rights to ensure the police do not overstep their bounds. The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution limits law enforcement officers from performing unreasonable searches and seizures without first obtaining a warrant.

A Washington man is being allowed to drive following a recent ruling after a prior conviction for drunk driving. The man is allegedly responsible for causing the deaths of two people when he was driving under the influence in 1997. The Quincy man was alleged to have been driving drunk on April 10 when he was seen speeding on state Route 281 and Road 5 Northwest. Nevertheless, the recent ruling by Grant Superior Court will allow the man to drive to and from work. He will be allowed to drive as long as he is not involved with any crimes.

The man was convicted of two counts of vehicular homicide in 1998. That crash occurred when the car that he was driving crossed the center line and hit a Honda Accord, killing two Pierce County residents. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.124. In this most recent case, his attorney argued that his prior conviction had occurred more than one decade ago. He also made the case that the man needed to drive to be able to continue working. His bail was set at $50,000, and he has been released from custody.

In a recent DUI case, a 54 year old man from Silverdale was allegedly arrested two times in 24 hours. The driver was alleged to have hit several vehicles on April 5. He was arrested on April 5 and then brought to a local hospital. His blood alcohol level was recorded as being 0.26.

The man was treated at the hospital because his blood-alcohol level was too high for him to stay at the jail. The upper limit for jail is 0.25. He was treated at the hospital and then was released. His car was impounded for at least 12 hours.

A man was accused of driving drunk in connection with an accident in which he struck a family who was crossing a street in Seattle. While DUI cases often involve crashes with other cars, bicyclists and pedestrians, it is unusual for one driver to kill or injure several members of the same family. However, this 50-year-old is accused of killing a man and his wife as well as injuring their daughter-in-law and the woman's infant son.

The driver is accused of driving with a blood alcohol percentage of .22 at the time of the accident. The two victims were a husband and wife who were retired teachers and had just moved to Seattle. Their 33-year-old daughter-in-law and her infant were critically injured in the crash. The accused man is being held in jail at $2.5 million and could face up to 19 years in prison if convicted on all counts.