Opinion: New law increases penalties for pedestrian deaths

Doug Dahl highlights a new Washington law addressing pedestrian deaths with tougher penalties for negligence.

In his weekly column, Doug Dahl discusses a significant gap in traffic laws

Did you know that starting January 1st it is illegal to kill a pedestrian with your car? Hopefully when you read that you thought, “You mean it wasn’t illegal already?” Okay, I admit I’m being a bit sensationalist with that opening sentence. We already have a vehicular homicide law. But we did have a significant gap in our traffic laws – one that left pedestrian, cyclist and other vulnerable road user deaths surprisingly unpunished.

Right out of the gate we’re going to get nerdy on legal terms here, so stick with me a minute. We know reckless and negligent driving is dangerous, but those terms mean different things when determining a driver’s culpability (how responsible they are for what they did). Reckless driving is when a person drives “in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.” The culpability is high here: you knew it was wrong and you did it anyway. Negligent driving is “the failure to exercise ordinary care.” It’s also explained as doing something a reasonably careful person wouldn’t do, or not doing something they would do. Whereas with recklessness you know it’s wrong, with negligence you didn’t give it the thought to consider that it was wrong. Still not great, but lower legal culpability.

If a driver kills another person while they drive impaired, recklessly, or with disregard for the safety of others, they’re guilty of vehicular homicide, a felony. You might think that “disregard for the safety of others” sounds a lot like negligence. I did too when I first read it. But if you were a juror on a vehicular homicide case, you’d be given instructions that it’s “a more serious dereliction than ordinary negligence,” and that negligence “does not render a person guilty of vehicular homicide.”

Under the law prior to 2025, the legal consequence for a negligent driver who killed a vulnerable road user was a traffic infraction with a $5000 fine (that can be reduced to as low as $250 with traffic school and a little community service) and a short license suspension. You might interpret that as saying the life of a pedestrian is worth one traffic ticket and some inconvenience. If you’re at all empathetic, you probably agree that the moral math on that doesn’t pencil out.

Steeper consequences can’t undo the harm, but our laws should reflect the value of human life. In 2023, 177 pedestrians and cyclists were killed in traffic crashes in Washington. That’s more than double from a decade earlier. And this isn’t just data; it’s our neighbors, friends, and family. By making negligent driving that kills a vulnerable person a gross misdemeanor and increasing the penalties to include steeper fines, a suspended license, and up to a year in jail, the new negligent driving law moves the needle closer to justice.

Just in case you’re worried that this law could potentially turn anyone who makes a driving mistake into a criminal, let me allay your fears. The standard for negligence is failing to exercise ordinary care. The law doesn’t demand exceptional care or remarkable care; just ordinary, reasonably careful driving. According to its own text, this law is for drivers who don’t meet that standard. If you can evaluate your driving and honestly say you exercise ordinary care, you’re not the target audience for this law.

Will these new laws reduce deaths from negligent driving? I hope so, but I can’t predict the future. However, I want to believe that we’re all willing to be reasonably careful drivers once we understand the costs of the alternative. Please prove me right.

The Wise Drive is hosted by Doug Dahl, a Target Zero manager for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

In his weekly column, Doug Dahl discusses a significant gap in traffic laws

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