Proposed law would impound DUI vehicles

Last spring, Washington state and Whatcom County were held liable for damages of more than $5 million in a DUI case. In case you have forgotten I will help you to remember: A woman was arrested for DUI, she was supposed to have an ignition interlock device in her car but did not. Due to overcrowding at the jail she was not booked and due to overturned impound cases at the Whatcom County District Court level her car was not impounded.
So as a possible solution to the problem, the arresting trooper drove her a distance of approximately nine miles to her home and told her to stay there until she sobered up. Being a repeat offender, this individual immediately got a ride back to her car from someone and drove drunk for the second time in one night. This time she hit someone head on and almost killed that person. That person was Hailey French.
There is currently no law in Washington state that requires the impoundment or hold of a vehicle after a DUI arrest. There are jails all over Washington state that are too crowded to book and hold people arrested for DUI's so what some of these people do is go right back to their car and drive it home. That is a threat to public safety.After the judgment last spring, I started working with State Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale. We have written and proposed a bill to Olympia that will help prevent these occurrences from happening. It is House Bill 2565, "Hailey's Law."
The bill simply states that if you are arrested for a DUI then the vehicle you are driving will be impounded. If you are the vehicle owner then the vehicle will be held for 12 hours.
Why a 12-hour hold? Most DUI's occur in the middle of the night therefore making the vehicle available in the middle of the day during normal business hours. In addition, picking up any vehicle during normal business hours saves the vehicle owner money in "after hours" fees.
Why is the hold only for the vehicle owner? Under current state law only the vehicle owner may redeem an impounded vehicle therefore if you don't own the car there is not a threat of you redeeming it.
Why am I so involved? Yes, I am the owner of a towing company in Bellingham, but more importantly I have lived here since I was 6 years old. I went to school in the county and I am involved with many groups locally. My biggest fear as a tow operator is responding to an accident where I know the victim, let alone could have done something to help prevent it.
Must we wait until we know a victim before we work on resolve?
Please support HB 2565 "Hailey's Law' and do your part to keep Whatcom County safe.


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