WA’s drunk-driving deaths surge 18.5% as U.S. trend declines
Traffic deaths in alcohol-impaired-driving wrecks fell nationwide from 2022 to 2023. That wasn’t the case in Washington state.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this year published data showing fatalities in drunk-driver-involved crashes dropped 7.6% during that time frame: from 13,458 to 12,429 deaths.
But Washington witnessed the opposite trend between those two years.
Fatalities involving an alcohol-impaired driver increased 18.5% from 2022 to 2023, jumping from 205 to 243, per data emailed to McClatchy by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC).
In general, Washington saw its total traffic deaths and impaired-driving-related fatalities increase more than the national average during and after COVID, said Mark McKechnie, director of WTSC’s external relations division.
Why, exactly? That’s hard to say, he told McClatchy.
“I think partly our fatality rates have been below the national average for many, many years,” McKechnie said. “So we had more room, I guess, to grow in that sense.”
As Washington’s drivers have become more reckless in recent years, safety advocates and lawmakers are revving up efforts to stop preventable deaths on the state’s roads.
McKechnie noted that the overall number of traffic fatalities in the state also “went up dramatically” between 2019 and 2023, climbing from 538 to 809; 2023 saw the highest number of such deaths since 1990. Fortunately, he added, preliminary numbers indicate that there was a decrease last year.
Official statistics aren’t available yet for fatalities involving an alcohol-impaired driver in 2024, McKechnie said in an interview. But he assumes that there will be a similar drop for that year.
Many people’s behavioral health suffered during the pandemic, he said. Washington encountered a steep rise in traffic deaths involving an alcohol-impaired driver starting in 2020, when COVID-19 first hit.
“Some people responded to that by drinking more, using more cannabis or other substances,” McKechnie said. “So in that sense, it’s not a surprise that we saw fatalities increase as a result.”
Other risky driving behaviors also have ballooned in recent years. Speeding driver-involved fatal crashes, for instance, spiked from 2019 to 2023, a WTSC dashboard shows.
Also, impaired driver-involved traffic fatalities — a category that includes drivers on drugs — shot up from 254 in 2019 to 410 in 2023, a 61.4% increase, according to a WTSC dashboard.
Impairment in this category is defined as being under the influence of one or more drugs and/or having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of at least 0.08%, or being flagged as impaired by law enforcement.
Washington’s number of drunk-driving deaths is always “disappointing” to state Sen. John Lovick, a former state trooper and Snohomish County Sheriff.
“Every life matters — and we can do better, and we should do better, and we have to do better,” the Mill Creek Democrat said. “That’s the reason I am never going to give up on trying to lower the BAC so that we can protect lives better in our state.”
WA Legislature pushes for traffic safety
Washington state lawmakers last session pursued legislation aimed at improving road safety.
One stalled proposal, the Lovick-sponsored Senate Bill 5067, revived the push to lower the legal BAC level for drivers from 0.08% to 0.05%.
McKechnie said most of the world already adheres to a 0.05%-or-lower BAC limit, including countries well-known for their love of libations, such as Argentina, Germany, Italy, Scotland, Ireland and Spain. Utah now abides by a 0.05% standard, as do certain states and provinces in Mexico and Canada.
WTSC was glad to see a new state law that will require intelligent speed-limiters placed in vehicles for people convicted of reckless driving or who’ve had multiple infractions including excessive speeding, McKechnie said. GPS-based devices under House Bill 1596, which takes effect in 2029, will prevent such drivers from zooming past the posted limit.
In addition, WTSC is backing up-and-coming car technology that identifies when a driver is legally impaired. If someone were deemed to be drunk, then their vehicle wouldn’t operate, thanks to “breath-based” tech from DADSS: the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety.
Washington’s alcohol-related traffic fatalities have skyrocketed by 91% over the past decade, WTSC noted July 15 in a DADSS-related news release.
“If every vehicle could prevent somebody from driving under the influence of alcohol, that would certainly keep our roads safer,” McKechnie said. “I think 0.05% goes along with that.”
Lovick, who once had to notify families of traffic deaths as a state trooper, would likely agree. Impairment begins with the very first drink, he said.
“Every single DUI collision is 100% preventable,” Lovick said.
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 11:02 AM.
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