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Sponsor seeks to classify all vehicular homicide as violent, most-serious offenses
Summary
Representative introduced a bill to explicitly designate vehicular homicide, including deaths caused by disregard for safety, as both violent and "most serious" offenses; prosecutors supported the change for sentencing and custody tools while defense groups warned about expanding strike provisions and disparate impacts
The Community Safety Committee heard testimony Jan. 21 on House Bill 1101, which would designate vehicular homicide — including deaths that result from a driver's disregard for the safety of others — as both a violent offense and a "most serious" offense under Washington law.
Representative (sponsor) said the bill aims to prevent first-time offender waivers in cases where a death results from a driver's disregard for safety. "I think there should be sanctions for this, and that's why I ran this bill," the sponsor said during brief remarks.
Committee staff described the legal context: vehicular homicide can arise when a death ensues within three years as a proximate result of a driver's operation of a vehicle under one of three circumstances — driving under the influence, reckless operation, or operating with disregard for the safety of others. Under current law, two of those types are explicitly designated violent and most serious; the bill would make that designation explicit for all three.
Prosecutors urged passage for consistency and sentencing purposes. Amy Friedheim, chair of the King County Prosecutor's felony traffic unit, described the measure as a statutory cleanup and argued that the applicable crimes should not be eligible for first-time offender waiver: "There is no reason why somebody who causes... should get a first time offender waiver," Friedheim told the committee.
Defense organizations opposed the bill. Jason Lance of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Washington Defender Association said the proposal would expand strikeable offenses under Washington's three-strikes framework and warned of disproportionate consequences. "This 3-strikes law... is grossly disproportionately imposed upon people of color, and so we should not be expanding the 3 strikes law by adding this to, as a strike," Lance said.
Lawmakers did not take a vote on HB 1101 at the hearing. The issue raises competing questions about ensuring stern penalties for deadly conduct and preserving judicial discretion and sentencing tools in cases with special mitigating circumstances.
