OLYMPIA, Wash. — A bill aimed at reducing inequity in traffic stops and increasing safety on the road had a hearing in committee on Monday.
House Bill 1513, also called Traffic Safety For All, would reprioritize the types of stops officers make to focus on safety issues such as DUIs, distracted driving, and speeding.
Proponents say this change would help increase safety. Research from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission found that fatalities increase when officers give fewer citations for safety-related issues.
The bill says a police officer may not stop a driver for a nonmoving violation such as expired tabs, a misdemeanor warrant, or equipment failure unless it presents an immediate safety threat on the road. In addition to increasing safety on the roads, this would also combat racial inequities, the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability says.
Washington State Patrol troopers searched Black, Hispanic and Pacific Islander drivers roughly twice as often as white drivers, but found a lower rate of contraband, according to an analysis by InvestigateWest in 2019. And Native Americans were searched at five times the rate of white drivers.
The bill states that police officers would have to inform dispatch of the reason for the stop, inform the driver and any vehicle occupants of the reason upon first contact, and must report certain information any time they stop or detain a driver.
RELATED: Read the full text of HB 1513
Several representatives from law enforcement organizations raised concerns about the bill, saying nonmoving violations can create safety hazards on the road.
"Each one of those laws has a family’s name next to it where they probably lost a loved one,” said Jeff DeVere.
DeVere, who spoke on behalf of the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, said his organization has "large concerns" with the proposal.
Capt. Neil Weaver with the Washington State Patrol said nonmoving violations have led to drug busts and drunk driving arrests.
He said between 2018 and 2022, 8% of driving under the influence arrests started as a nonmoving violation traffic stop.
Weaver also said traffic stops help build trust between troopers and drivers.
”Although defective equipment is not a core goal of WSP, it is an effective safety tool we often use as an educational opportunity," said Weaver, "to ensure a little thing doesn’t become a bigger thing.”
In addition to prioritizing types of police stops, the bill would also create a grant program for local initiatives aimed at reducing nonmoving violations in low-income communities. This could include programs that provide vouchers for helmets or repairs, fee offset programs, and more.
The law enforcement representatives said they supported the portion of the bill that would create grant funding to help low-income drivers pay off their nonmoving violation fines.
Twenty-three co-sponsors introduced the House bill, with its companion Senate Bill 5572 introduced by seven co-sponsors. The bill has support from around 60 organizations, including ACLU of Washington, CAIR Washington, and AAA of Washington.