Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
A new Washington law, Hailey’s Law, took effect July 22 and requires towing and impoundment of vehicles driven by drunken driving suspects. The law was named after Hailey French, a Whatcom County woman who was severely injured in a head-on collision with a car driven by a person who was arrested for DUI two hours earlier.
Now when an officer arrests a driver in Washington, the vehicle has to be towed with a mandatory 12-hour impound hold.
“It’s meant to eliminate the opportunity of the affected driver to get behind the wheel of the same car again, when they’re still drunk,” said Washington State Patrol officer Sgt. Brad Hudson, head of the detachment based at Colfax.
“Now all drunk drivers face the costs of towing and impound in addition to jail time, losing their driver’s license and the high cost of a DUI,” said Lowell Porter, Director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
Before the law went into effect, a driver had the option of signing a waiver allowing his car to remain in a parking lot or other safe place near where the driver may have pulled over.
“The main people affected are the tow companies,” said Sgt. Hudson.
Eric Heise of Eric’s Auto Body and Glass in Colfax said they have averaged about two tows a week since the law went into effect. He pointed out the new law requires tow operators to lock up a suspect’s car in an impound lot where it has to remain for 12 hours.
Prior to the law, Heise said they hadn’t had a DUI tow call for about two years.
The car can be taken out of impound by the registered owner. Heise said he has yet to deal with a case where the DUI suspect and the registered owner are two different people.
Under the state law, tow operators are authorized to charge $177 per hour in fees plus $45 per day for impound. They are also authorized to tag on an $88 fee if the vehicle owner wants to get the car out of impound after normal business hours.
Heise said so far most of the people he has dealt with under the law have faced the impoundment and fees without a problem.
Sgt. Hudson reported that drivers so far have shown little reaction to the new law.
“A lot of them expect this,” Hudson commented.
Undersheriff Ron Rockness also pointed out the new law is intended to prohibit a DUI suspect from returning to a parked vehicle and getting back on the road.
Depending on staffing, a DUI suspect can be processed by deputies or troopers through the sheriff’s officer in approximately two hours. Suspects can be booked into jail or released after processing. They can also post bail.
He added Whitman Deputies can make DUI arrests almost anywhere in the county, and the location can impact on the costs involved in the towing.
Rockness said the sheriff’s office has made approximately 40 DUI arrests to date this year.
The total number of DUI cases going through Whitman County District Court in 2010 was 327.
Court Administrator Marlynn Markley pointed out defendants are required to make a first appearance on the next day the court is in session. They are advised of their rights, ordered to adhere to pre-trial release conditions which usually include no drinking and normally assigned a court date which can be months after the date of the arrest.
The towing and impound fees will be in addition to the high toll of a DUI conviction. A first-time offender who is convicted of DUI faces a minimum of one day in jail, a $940 fine, a 90-day license suspension and an order to undergo evaluation which can lead to alcohol treatment with the costs also paid for by the defendant. They are also required to install an interlock device on their vehicle.
The accident involving Hailey French led to a $5.5 million verdict, the largest in Whatcom County history for a drunk-driving case. The suit named the driver, the state patrol and the local probation department for their failure to install a court-ordered breath-controlled ignition in the driver’s car as a previous conviction.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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