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Traffic Safety Commission reports record‑high recent fatalities, unveils Target Zero update and pilots to boost enforcement and interlock use
Summary
The Washington Traffic Safety Commission reported 809 traffic fatalities in 2023 and described a Target Zero safe‑system update focused on impairment, speeding and equity. The commission outlined use of 2024 proviso funds for tribal grants, high‑visibility enforcement shifts and an ignition interlock pilot in Yakima to close compliance gaps.
Shelley Baldwin, acting director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC), told the Transportation Committee the commission updated its statewide strategic highway safety plan, Target Zero, and presented data showing a troubling rise in fatalities and risk behaviors.
Baldwin and Mark McKechnie, the commission’s external relations director, said final 2023 data show 809 fatalities and that Washington exceeded the national fatality rate in 2023 for the first time since 1980. Baldwin said the increase from 2019 to 2023 and the 10‑year upward trend in several measures require a systemic response.
Impairment, speeding and young drivers
- Impairment: the presenters said impaired driving was involved in more than half of 2023 fatalities and that alcohol remains the most common substance (61% of impaired drivers had alcohol; about 25% of alcohol‑positive drivers also tested positive for delta‑9 THC). The commission reported an 80% increase in fatalities involving an…
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