Community Police & Fire

Courts charging fewer people with DUIs, despite increase in traffic fatalities

Throughout August and Labor Day weekend, law enforcement agencies across the state deployed high-visibility patrols aiming to crack down on drunk drivers and prevent roadway fatalities.

Traffic deaths have increased sharply across Washington and the Kitsap Peninsula since 2020, with impairment involved in about half of those incidents. 

Yet courts on the Kitsap Peninsula — including those in Kitsap County and Gig Harbor — have charged fewer people for driving under the influence over the past four years, according to a review of annual caseload reports published by Washington State Courts. 

Fewest DUI charges in a decade

Between 2014 and 2019, local courts filed at least 795 DUI charges per year. Since 2020, charges have peaked at 792.

That apex in 2021 was the only time in the past four years annual charges have exceeded 700. Last year, 598 people were charged, the lowest total in the last decade. 

Kitsap County Prosecutor Chad Enright said fluctuations in DUI caseloads are dependent on law enforcement, particularly the Washington State Patrol. He said local courts are unlikely to dismiss DUI cases.

“For misdemeanor cases, our top two priorities are DUIs and domestic assault,” he said. “We will always focus on those.”

Steve Strachan, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs, said while he did not have data immediately available, a shortage of police officers and attorneys could be one factor contributing to the decline in DUIs.

New laws, fewer officers

According to a recent state crime report, Washington ranks last in the nation for the number of officers per capita. Meanwhile, courts across the state are suffering from a shortage of public defenders and prosecutors.

“It’s a numbers game,” said Strachan, a former Bremerton police chief. “If there’s fewer officers out there you’re going to see fewer stops in the first place.”

Strachan also pointed to a series of new state laws around drug use, police intervention, pursuits and use of force — some since  altered — as another factor. Under a drug possession law change, arrests for illegal drug use saw a significant decline in recent years, although they are increasing again. 

Those laws “were originally based, almost exclusively, on completely removing or restricting law enforcement from interactions,” Strachan said.

Based on caseload data, it appears that DUI charges on the peninsula are increasing in 2024, but remain below pre-pandemic levels. Through the first six months of the year, courts have filed more than 350 charges.

On state highways in Kitsap County, there have been fewer DUI arrests this year, said Trooper Katherine Weatherwax, a Washington State Patrol spokesperson. Troopers made 247 DUI arrests through August, down from 315 at that point in 2023.

Fatal crashes on state highways are also down, Weatherwax said. Five fatality collisions occurred on state highways in Kitsap County through August 2023, versus only two so far in 2024.

A spokesperson for the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office could not immediately provide data on their DUI arrests. 

Lowering the legal limit 

The reduction in DUI charges comes as traffic fatalities in Washington have spiked since the pandemic, reaching levels not seen in decades.

While traffic deaths nationally jumped considerably in 2020 and 2021, they have seen slight declines over the last two years, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

Washington has bucked that trend. The state had 810 traffic fatalities last year, its highest total in 33 years, according to preliminary data from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. Impaired drivers were involved in 400 of those deaths. 

Kitsap County saw 23 deaths in 2022, the highest toll since at least 2016 and about double 2020.  Fatalities dropped to 22 last year. Gig Harbor had two traffic deaths last year and 10 over the past decade. 

The uptick in fatalities ignited efforts by some state officials to lower the legal limit for drunk driving. Legislation introduced in each of the last few years proposed reducing the allowable blood alcohol limit from 0.08% to 0.05%. Legislators likely will propose the change again next year. 

Supporters say lowering the limit would reduce traffic deaths and promote better decision making without increasing arrests. Opponents, namely the hospitality industry, expressed fears of decreased sales and liability for their workers.

If adopted, Washington would equal Utah for the strictest limit in the country. It would also put the state in line with most  European Union countries, where the standard is 0.05%.

One drink = impairment

During an August webinar for hospitality workers,  Dr. Tao Kwan-Gett, chief science officer for the Washington Department of Health, said even a blood alcohol content of 0.02% — equal to one drink for the average man on an empty stomach — causes measurable impacts on your driving.

“By the time your blood alcohol concentration reaches 0.05(%) — which is the blood alcohol concentration used by many countries throughout the world and is being proposed as the new standard for driving under the influence — both men and women already have impaired driving,” he said.

Mark McKechnie, external relations director for the Washington Traffic Safety Commision, said courts would not hold hospitality workers responsible for those who drive while intoxicated. The changed standard would also be unlikely to lead to an increase in DUI arrests, he argued.

Law enforcement must observe a visual sign of impaired driving before pulling someone over, he said. Officers only administer a breathalyzer test to confirm the results of a field sobriety test.

What the change would do, he said, is influence decision making and encourage more people to plan ahead, rather than waiting until after they have been drinking to decide if they are able to drive safely. 

“We want people to understand better the impact that alcohol has on them mentally and on their ability to drive. And the fact that their risk of crashing is doubled when they reach 0.05(%),” he said “It’s really the education and prevention that have the biggest impact on reducing impairment involved in crashes.”

Conor Wilson is a Murrow News fellow, reporting for Gig Harbor Now and the Bremerton-based newspaper Kitsap Sun, through a program managed by Washington State University.