Reckless drivers still get too much of a pass; those who “endanger the safety of the community” won’t be pursued

Crash scene on I-405 in Renton near NE 44th Street exit yesterday afternoon. A stolen car with no plates, NOT being pursued by police, lost control on the freeway. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt in what could easily have been a deadly accident. The driver had been ordered to pull over by Bellevue officers shortly before this accident, but the officers did not pursue because the car was driven recklessly. The crash caused a five-mile long backup in the afternoon commute. (WSP Photo)

The legislature has slightly improved their poorly-conceived 2021 police vehicle pursuit law with passage of Senate Bill 5352.  I’m grateful to the state senators and representatives that pushed for these improvements, and have made it a little better.  Many of these legislators tried to do more, but this was the best they could get, and I thank them.  The improvements make it easier to catch dangerous suspects that have committed violent crimes and are seen fleeing in vehicles.

But the 2023 improvement do not reverse the deadly consequences of letting reckless and drunken drivers overrun our highways with impunity.  The 2021 law made it illegal for police to pursue drivers who exhibit dangerous driving behavior, and the 2023 revisions did nothing to fix that.   The data suggests that Washington highway death tolls will continue to march upward at 10-15% per year as a result, making a continued mockery of the state’s “Target Zero” driver safety program.

Target Zero was supposed to get us to zero deaths by 2030. Instead, deaths are rapidly increasing since the police pursuit law went into effect

Reckless drivers get too much of a pass. In fact, unless a driver is known to be a suspect in a serious violent crime, the law explicitly tells the officer NOT to pursue if ” the operator of the  moving vehicle appears to be willfully resisting or ignoring the  officer’s attempt to stop the vehicle by increasing vehicle speed,  making evasive maneuvers, or operating the vehicle in a reckless  manner that endangers the safety of the community or the officer.”

In other words, if you drive recklessly enough, you can’t be forced to pull over.  And if you’re in a stolen car and you hide your face, your risk of ever getting caught is near zero…at least unless your reckless driving leads to a crash.

Despite what some legislators may tell you, DUI’s are also unenforceable against the most rebellious drivers even with the updates to the law.  Unless a driver willingly pulls over for an infraction, the police can’t typically establish reasonable suspicion for a DUI— it takes a driver interview.

And under the bill, in order for police to pull over someone who is “a serious risk of harm,”  they must also be wanted for one of the crimes listed in the bill– it’s not enough that their driving itself is a serious risk of harm.  The legislature shows little concern for the rapidly increasing number of devastating car crashes that take hundreds of lives per year in our state, the biggest cause of death for children and young adults.

The legislature has effectively created a new class of drivers, exempt from all the rules. Most of us toil to earn money for a car, and pay for expensive licensing, insurance, tolls, and maintenance in order to drive. But for those that don’t mind breaking laws and driving dangerously, the legislature has created an alluring and widely-known loophole that allows drivers to avoid these costs and still not get pursued by police.  If one steals a car, removes the license plate, and commits to always driving recklessly and endangering the public when they’re on the road, they are essentially exempted from being pursued by police.  It has become so tempting, even local high-school students on TikTok are doing it, sometimes several cars in one night.  This increasingly popular Washington State loophole comes with the added benefit to criminals of being able to commit property crimes and drive away with impunity. Most of us have seen these drivers on the roads and highways, often passing us or running stops signs, and typically bearing no license plates.  I’ve personally had near-misses with at least two of them.

Even the perpetrators are hurt by this. One of the worst consequences of the police pursuit law is that by enabling/incentivising car theft and reckless driving, it entices more young people who love cars into a life of crime and perpetual danger.  I went to high school with some car enthusiasts who loved to modify and occasionally race their vehicles.  Fortunately, they knew they would be pursued by police if they raced on streets, so they found off-road, out-of-the-way locations to race, and kept their in-town driving legal.  They also didn’t steal cars, as no one wanted to be busted for that.  These classmates have enjoyed fulfilling lives pursuing their car hobbies–  thanks in part to the sensible lawmakers back then that did not carelessly incentivise deadly and illegal activities.