Comment: Traffic bill will put emphasis on safety hazards

Published 1:30 am Saturday, February 18, 2023

By Liz Vogeli / For The Herald

As an elected official, I believe it’s our duty to help families find solutions to problems, not make their lives more difficult. Traffic laws, and how we enforce them, are one area where our state could use this approach.

Washington has seen an increase in traffic deaths in recent years. There were 745 traffic fatalities last year alone; the highest in decades. According to research by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, these accidents were typically caused by moving violations such as impaired driving, distracted driving, swerving and speeding. Meanwhile, we continue to strap low-income drivers with fees they can’t afford for expired tabs, or equipment violations that are unrelated to immediate on-the-road safety.

That’s why I support House Bill 1513, also known as “Traffic Safety for All,” that state lawmakers are weighing this legislative session. I urge you to support it as well.

If passed, the Traffic Safety for All bill will increase safety and compliance for traffic laws, in a fair and equitable way. First, the bill limits law enforcement officers from stopping drivers for low-risk issues such as expired tabs, a broken taillight or other equipment-related reasons, unless there’s an immediate risk to safety. It also requires officers to have written consent before searching a vehicle and restricts irrelevant questioning during stops. These features will free officers to focus on urgent dangers on the road, such as impaired or distracted drivers, while also preventing fishing expeditions during stops that are ineffective at stopping crime.

Traffic Safety for All also creates a grant program to help drivers address car maintenance and other troubles. Local governments could use the grant money to provide low-income drivers with repair vouchers for their cars or fee offsets to renew expired tabs, among other aid. The grant program will help drivers stay in compliance with traffic laws by maintaining operable vehicles without needless fines and fees.

Some might wonder why supporters of the bill want to limit traffic stops. The truth is stops for infractions not related to traffic safety are ineffective at preventing accidents or keeping people safe. At the same time, they waste needed resources. Data shows that these stops find contraband less than 1 percent of the time. And the time officers spend ticketing people for expired tabs or broken taillights could be used to stop impaired and distracted drivers; the leading causes of traffic accidents.

These stops also harm community members, with a particular disparate impact on Black drivers and other drivers of color. Many of us witnessed the recent tragic death of Tyre Nichols in Tennessee; the latest high-profile example of how traffic stops can escalate to violent, deadly encounters. Even without violence, years of data have shown that Black drivers are stopped and searched at disproportionately higher rates than white drivers, leaving many people feeling targeted and profiled.

Our system doesn’t need to operate this way, and with Traffic Safety for All, it won’t.

Instead, the bill puts people first and makes community-focused solutions a priority. Expired tabs don’t kill people, and adding fees and fines to a person who can’t afford to fix their cars will never make any of us safer on the roads. It just places people in a poverty trap.

I urge the Legislature to pass House Bill 1513, because we can have safe communities without excessive fines and, instead, by making peoples’ needs a priority. Traffic Safety for All does that.

Liz Vogeli serves on the Everett City Council, representing the council’s District 4.