A bill signed earlier this week by Washington’s Governor, Bob Ferguson, will alter the way in which drivers who face certain license suspensions can handle the punishment. If the driver faces a 60-day license suspension, they will be given the option to avoid this by instead completing a course focusing on safe driving. A 60-day license suspension most often comes from the Department of Licensing, also known as the DOL, if a driver has three moving traffic violations on their record in one year or if they have four in two years.
The new law comes from Substitute House Bill 1244.
Under this law, people will be able to end their license suspension early. However, the suspension period will only end when they provide proof of insurance, fee requirements being mt, and completion of an allotted driver’s safety course. If all three things are not met and properly shown to the DOL, then the suspension is still active.
If a driver chooses to complete the course, the suspension is lifted, and the driver has an active driver’s license again. However, it is important to note that this can only be done once every five years. That means that if a driver gets three marks in one year again and have their license suspended just three years after completing the driver’s safety course, they will not be able to end the suspension early. Instead, the driver will have to entirely wait out the 60-day suspension.
Additionally, there is a one year probation period that begins after the suspension is lifted.
During the probation period, if the driver has any moving violation marked on their account, they will automatically be hit by a 30-day license suspension. This puts drivers who have completed the suspension termination course on high alert when they are on the road. Regularly, it takes three marks on a record to receive a suspension, but in the probationary period it would only take one.
The law has seen mixed reactions to its passing.
Those who oppose the law argue that a law like this will not improve road safety or reduce the risk of traffic collisions. Instead, they say the law is unresearched and will end up being meaningless. Those who support the law feel very different. Supporters of the law have stated that they believe the law will help improve the road safety quality.
Along with the termination possibility, the rules of the suspension has changed as well. Previously, suspensions would only be issued if a driver had six violations within one year or seven within two.
