(The Center Square) – Washington could soon follow Utah as state lawmakers convened Tuesday to hear testimony on a bill that could lower the legal per se blood alcohol concentration for driving from .08 to .05.
Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, proposed Senate Bill 5067 to lower the legal BAC limit when operating a motor vehicle or vessel to .05. According to the National Institute of Health, 91 countries have adopted this limit, with 54 other nations somewhere between .06 and 0.12.
Utah lowered its legal limit to .05 in 2018. Four years later, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that the state’s fatal crash rate dropped nearly 20% in 2019. However, despite being published in 2022, the report didn’t include increases in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The Senate Law & Justice Committee held a public hearing on SB 5067 on Tuesday before taking further action during an executive session scheduled for Thursday. Lovick cited data during the hearing showing that traffic fatalities in Washington increased 20% from 2021 to 2023.
“I see driving behavior beyond anything I could have imagined when I started as a state trooper,” Lovick said. “In 2023, there were 813 traffic deaths on our roads, that’s two deaths every single day; 51%, 416 of those deaths, were DUI related.”
Lovick, who doesn’t drink, served as a state trooper for 31 years before becoming Snohomish County Sheriff in 2007 between his stints as a state legislator. He told the committee drunk driving is a choice and that every death that comes as a result is preventable.
The bill earned support from 15 people during the hearing, including Lovick and representatives on behalf of the Washington State Patrol, Washington Traffic Safety Commission, Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, National Transportation Safety Board and others.
Three individuals testified against the bill, including representatives from the Washington Hospitality Association, Washington Wine Institute and Washington Brewers Guild. One other with the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers testified as “other.”
Of those who signed into the meeting but didn’t testify, 42 were in support, with 244 against the proposal.
Senate Bill 5067 would also require the Washington Traffic Safety Commission to implement a statewide public information campaign on the changes. It would also require the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to evaluate the impacts of SB 5067 within two years.
If approved, the law would take effect on July 1, 2026, requiring at least $335,770 in funding. According to a fiscal note, that cost would cover a 30-minute training session related to SB 5067 for over 9,000 law enforcement officers.
“Every time I had a DUI suspect blow a .06, .07, .08 and back then, a .09, I would ask myself a question: Would the children in our neighborhood or any neighborhood be safe with this person driving on our streets,” Lovick said. “For me, the answer was always no.”
Critics of the bill argued that the law was ineffective in Utah. They cited increased fatalities following 2019 that the 2022 NHTSA report failed to mention. Others said it would impact responsible drivers who aren’t impaired but are over the lowered limit.
Studies show the risk of being killed in a crash for drivers with a BAC between .05 and .079 is at least seven, if not 21 times higher than that of a sober person.
“Senate Bill 5067 will impact those who decide to stop drinking before they are impaired,” Julie Gordon testified on behalf of the Washington Hospitality Association. “Individuals choosing to behave responsibly who will now be subject to the strongest and strictest DUI penalties in the country.”
Utah was the first state to adopt the .05 legal BAC limit in 2018, but other states have similar provisions for people with prior convictions. Several have considered lowering the limit below .08 over the past few years, with some expected to take the matter back up this year.
The Senate Law & Justice Committee will reconvene on Thursday for an executive session on SB 5067.
