Mandatory reporting for suspected DUI with a child in the vehicle. SHB 3124 requires law enforcement officers to notify child protective services when a child under the age of 13 or under is present in a car being driven by a parent, legal custodian, or guardian who is being arrested for driving under the influence of physical control. If an officer believes that the child will be in imminent risk of harm, or there is no person properly authorized to take custody the officer is authorized to take the child into emergency custody.

Unauthorized use of cell phones while driving is a primary offense as of June 10, 2010. What this means is that an officer can now pull over drivers for talking on their cell phone or texting without using a hands-free device or texting while driving. (Previously the officer could only write a ticket for this infraction if he or she had stopped the vehicle for some other valid reason, but could not stop a driver simply for violating the cell phone statute.) Drivers with an instructional permit or intermediate license can no longer use a cell phone while driving at any time. There is an exception to this law when the driver is reporting illegal activity, summoning medical or other emergency help, or to prevent injury to a person or property. Why is this relevant to DUIs? Most DUI cases start as a stop for some type of traffic infraction, such as speeding or failure to use a turn signal. This provides one more reason for officers to legally stop vehicles and initiate DUI investigations. This law may also give officers authority to stop vehicles driven by drivers using hands free devices if they appear too young to have a regular license (although, this is obviously brings up lots of Constitutional issues).

New breath test machines are on the way. HB 2465 amends RCW 46.51.506, the statute governing when a breath test is admissible, to include the use of a dry gas external standard. This allows the State to start replacing the old Datamaster machines (no longer produced) with machines using dry gas technology, the Alcotest 9510 manufactured by German company, Dräger.

Deferred Prosecution administrative fee increase. The administrative fee that courts can charge for a Deferred Prosecution was increased to $250. Considering the cost of an IIL, probation and two years of treatment, this is still the least of one’s worries when entering a DP.

Interlock Ignition License (IIL) law updates. The most significant changes in DUI related legislation come in the area of IIL laws. Amendments to RCW 46.20.385(1)(a) extend the eligibility for an IIL to include drug-related DUI offenses, DUI-related vehicular assault and vehicular homicide. The “employment vehicle” exception is extended to include valets, mechanics and rental cars for “vehicles owned, leased, or rented by a person’s employer and on those vehicles whose care and/or maintenance is the temporary responsibility of the employer, and driven at the direction of a person’s employer as a requirement of employment during working hours. “

Under 2SB 2742, an individual must be given 45-days notice of DOL’s intent to cancel a IIL, instead of the 15 days previously required. Notice must also comport with all of the requirements of RCW 46.20.245 (directing how notice is provided and for the right to request an administrative hearing to challenge the cancellation). Also a driver whose IIL has been cancelled may apply for immediate reinstatement if they meet all of the requirements for an IIL.

As of January 1, 2001, before an IIL holder can remove an IID they will have to affirmatively establish that, within the four months prior to the request for removal, there was: (1) no attempt to start the vehicle with a BAC of 0.04% or higher; (2) no failure to take or pass a re-test; and (3) no failure to comply with required calibration, maintenance or repair of the IID.

The Washington Legislature also voted to change some of the requirements for courts when a driver is convicted of DUI. Courts are now required to order installation of an IID and application for an IIL for both drug and alcohol based DUI and Physical control convictions. The court may waive these requirements if the driver (1) does not operate a vehicle, (2) is not otherwise eligible for an IIL, or (3) lives out of state and an IID is not reasonably available. The requirement that the court order “other alcohol monitoring” when not ordering an IIL has been amended so that the court only need require this when also ordering abstinence as well.

Lowering the costs of Deferred Prosecutions courts will no longer be required to order the defendant to apply for an IIL per RCW 46.20.720(2).

Finally, IID installers must begin to use the newer fuel cell technology in lieu of the older T-cell technology. Companies that are currently using T-cell technology have five years to replace their equipment.

It’s been a bad year for Deadliest Catch’s Harris family.  Captain Phil Harris, 53, died of complications from a stroke earlier this month in an Alaskan hopital. 

People magazine spoke with the Washington State Patrol regarding the incident.

“Mr. Harris was spotted driving a BMW 3 Series erratically Thursday evening by a citizen in Shoreline, Wa. We were able to locate his vehicle by aircraft, and he was pulled over in the Seattle area. The car was registered to his father,” says Washington State Patrol spokesman Dan McDonald.

“He failed a field sobriety test and refused to take a toxicological test,” McDonald added. “After further investigation, it was found that he was involved in a hit and run with another occupied vehicle earlier in the evening. He had rear-ended another car.”

The shooting occurred after another trooper, Jesse Greene, had pulled over a woman on suspicion of drunken driving.

Johnson, who was working solo in a patrol cruiser, arrived around 12:20 a.m. so Greene could take the driver in for processing.

Tow-truck driver George Hill arrived and was preparing to tow the car when the shooter emerged from the dark. The man exchanged words with the trooper and opened fire at 12:40 a.m.

Johnson got off a shot but there was no indication at the scene that his assailant was hit.

Trooper Johnson was released from the hospital on Monday.

Martin A. Jones, 45, of Seaview was arrested overnight Sunday in Long Beach and has been booked into Pacific County jail.  The State Patrol is still looking for evidence and tips from the public.

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: 

The State Patrol says Scott Johnson was working a drunk driving case in Long Beach when a man walked up, started an argument, and then shot him twice, including once in the head.

Dozens of officers spent Sunday going house-to-house all throughout the Long Beach peninsula. Investigators consider this an ambush, and believe Johnson was chosen at random.

Meanwhile, Trooper Johnson is recovering at a Portland, OR hospital and scheduled to be released today.  It is not known whether the bullet fragment lodged in the back of Trooper Johnson’s head will ever be able to be removed.

Pullman officers did come in contact with the WSU football player twice on Saturday.  The first time officers saw Lobbestael carrying an unconscious woman.  They took her into custody for MIP.

About an hour later, officers found Lobbestael in a pickup truck in the parking lot of the police station.  He was awoken and arrest for Minor in Possession.

Pullman’s The Daily Evergreen reported:

Pullman Police Cmdr. Chris Tennant said the police found Lobbestael passed out in a Dodge pickup parked in front of the Pullman Police Department.

“He was slumped over with a grocery bag of vomit between his feet,” Tennant said. A little past midnight on Saturday, the Pullman Police spotted Lobbestael carrying an unconscious woman on College Hill, who was arrested for an MIP

Lobbestael is 19 years old and according to reprots was arrested for MIP.  He has been suspended from the team because of the incident.