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Three teens are in critical condition after a stolen car driven at high speed crashed into another car Wednesday morning in Renton. Photo: KOMO news
A few weeks ago Renton Council members and Mayor Pavone traveled to Olympia to discuss legislative issues including the law limiting police pursuits that has caused a skyrocketing number of stolen cars to be driven recklessly through our streets. Would-be car thieves have figured out police can’t chase them, so they have been stealing cars and racing them hazardously, often ending in accidents, smash-and-grabs, or other crime sprees.
Representatives Steve Bergquist and David Hackney assured our city delegation they would both reliably support a sensible House bill restoring some police pursuit authority, and were even listed as co-sponsors of HB 1363 that did this. But yesterday they voted against a call for a vote of their bill on the house floor, potentially killing it for this session, and deeply disappointing several Renton elected officials and many of their Renton constituents.
House Representative Alicia Rule, (D) 42nd district, explained in her statement that democrats voted not to bring it forward now because they want more time to work on it when the political climate isn’t as polarized. So perhaps that means they plan to bring it back at the next legislative session? But with the tragic fatal accident trend we are seeing statewide from their past actions, a six month delay in restoring police pursuit will result in an additional 100 or more people killed needlessly and about 400 additional motorists seriously maimed or permanently brain-injured. (We are seeing these losses because the legislature is trying to save about three lives per year of fleeing suspects plus one or two bystanders.)
Twelve hours after voting to kill the bill for now, six youth in a speeding stolen car ran a red light and then crashed into another car at Renton Ave and Airport Way, sending four people to the hospital. Three of them are minors and are now in critical condition at Harbor View. My thoughts are with the injured teens and their families as they work to recover from the physical and emotional damage from this accident. It’s impossible to understand how legislators can convince themselves that they’ve made the roads safer when accidents like this are happening daily in our region. Legislators have actually made Washington’s roads deadlier than the national average for the first time in 45 years, and they are getting worse fast. Youth in our society do not have the same judgement as adults, and need to know that grown-ups have set boundaries for them and the rest of society. Reasonable boundaries include that they will likely be stopped and arrested if they steal and race a stolen car. This boundary can easily be recognized as life-saving for them and others. Our legislators should come down consistently on the adult side of this discussion, and support our police and our Renton officials as they try to enforce traffic laws and prevent car thefts.
Our House representatives will have a final chance to improve the police pursuit situation this session, after a surprise push today in the state Senate got a companion bill narrowly through that chamber. I’ll discuss that in my next entry.
Meanwhile, you can email them at:
steve.bergquist@leg.wa.gov
David.Hackney@leg.wa.gov
Ah… David Hackney. The guy who had a drive-by shooting a few blocks from his house where a young man was killed, and his response was to decriminalize drive-by shootings.
I kid you not.
Watch out for any politician he supports as it’s a good indication that they’re crazy.
Hackney is trying to grow a bit. He’s better than Hasegawa, who’s increasingly getting crazier.
If we had a decent Govenor, he would bring the House and Senate back, until they solved this deadly inaction.
I would like to start some kind of way that we can show appreciation for our police in Renton. Years ago, I put a blue light in my front window, but that is primarily for to honor officers killed in the line of duty, and remembrance during the holidays. What ideas do you, supporters of our police have, simple and inexpensive, but local and personal, that we could start and encourage, to show our support?