OLYMPIA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Local and state leaders are calling for Washington to lower its legal threshold for impaired driving.
State Patrol Chief John Batiste told TVW’s “Inside Olympia” that he wants to see the state’s blood alcohol content, or BAC, limit lowered from .08 to .05.
“We’re one of the only industrialized nations in the world who really doesn’t operate at an .05 level as is,” Batiste said. “I’ve had lots of conversations with my peer in Utah, who was the first state to take that challenge on, and they’ve seen nothing but success as a result thereof.”
It comes as more than half of the fatal crashes in Washington between 2017 and 2021 involved impaired drivers.
Bellingham has seen a nearly 18% increase in DUI arrests in 2025 as of last week.
Police Lt. Claudia Murphy has been among those who have voiced their support for lowering the BAC limit.
“There are other nations that have it as a .04. That’s what our commercial drivers [have], it’s a .04 legal limit for commercial vehicle drivers [in Washington],” Murphy told MBN earlier this year. “I see no reason why the legislation can’t lower it. And maybe they have to baby-step it down and go .06 and then .04.”
According to a bill that was introduced to the state House in 2024, lowering the limit to .05 could save nearly 1,800 lives per year.
Currently, Utah is the only state in the country that has adopted the 0.05 limit.
