Racing or Eluding Police in WA? Proposed Law’s Painful Car Hold

A new law in Washington State has been proposed to snatch away your vehicle for at least three days if you are caught and arrested for eluding police or racing your vehicle.

I see people driving like a maniac all the time and sometimes they are racing other drivers. How goofy! Don't they know it's against the law to do this?

Racing or Eluding Police in WA? New Proposed Law Would Be Painful

Senate Bill 5333 aims to make life a lot more uneasy if you get caught eluding police and racing and you own the car.

Losing your car for 72 hours would be pretty painful if this proposed bill gets passed in both chambers and is signed into law by Governor Ferguson. The only way you could get your car back before then is if the owner of the car isn't you, or if your car has two or more people registered to own the car.

SB5333 Bill History

Senators Lovick, Torres, Chapman, Dozier, Gildon, and Holy proposed the bipartisan bill on January 17th. It was referred to the Senate Law & Justice Committee and a public hearing was held a month later.

The Senate bill was scheduled for an executive session on February 20th, so we'll stay tuned to see how this proposed law progresses.

"(c) When a vehicle is impounded under RCW 46.55.113(2) (l) or (m), the driver is arrested for racing or attempting to elude a police vehicle, and the driver is a registered owner of the vehicle, the impounded vehicle may not be redeemed for a period of 72 hours from the time the impounded vehicle arrives at the registered tow truck operator's storage facility as noted in the registered tow truck operator's master log" - SB 5333

ALSO READ: Is It Illegal to Remove Neighbor's Branches on Your Fence in WA?

You can watch a recap the TVW hearing video below: