Senate Bill Aims to Lower Blood Alcohol Standards for DUIs

A bill has been introduced in the Washington Senate that would lower the state's blood alcohol threshold for DUI offenses from 0.8 to 0.5.

SSB 5002 was introduced by 44th District Sen. John Lovick who serves on the Senate Transportation Committee alongside 12th District Sen. Brad Hawkins, who says he's in favor of Lovick's idea.

"Generally speaking, without having heard any testimony yet, I am supportive of the concept. It's difficult for me to believe that someone who is just under the current legal limit of .08 is not impaired."

Hawkins adds that although he is in favor of lowering the state's blood alcohol level for DUIs, he believes lowering the standard to .05 might not be a perfect fix.

"If we do end up lowering it to .05, then people who blow .06 or .07 might be treated much like someone who blows a 1.5. So I think we need to be thoughtful for how this particular bill moves along."

The legislation is scheduled for a hearing by the Senate Transportation Committee on Monday.