Washington is seeking to prohibit police from performing traffic stops for nonmoving infractions in response to concerns about the stops. These include infractions like defective headlights or expired tabs.
You might still be stopped for a crime, though, including failing to buckle up or leaving your license plate on your car. Officers would send you an email with a warning for nonmoving infractions.
The House Committee is still considering House Bill 1512 in the Washington State Legislature.
If approved, the bill would provide a grant to assist low-income people in avoiding nonmoving infractions in addition to allowing police to stop cars for nonmoving violations.
If approved, the bill would also require officers to document driver demographics and the reason for the stop beginning in 2026.
Minority advocates have praised the bill, while some police officials oppose it, arguing that unrestricted traffic stops help police prevent human trafficking, for instance.
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Other states are also seeking to do away with traffic checkpoints, including Washington.
According to James McMahan, policy director for the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, “If the Legislature wants a person to be able to drive a car without headlights or taillights, we recommend that you simply just eliminate those provisions from the law. To keep those provisions on the books but prevent police from enforcing them, we think, undermines the rule of law.”
Road users’ complaints about police bias and the fact that officers were not required to make at least one traffic stop per shift were the main reasons why the Houston Police Department in Texas decided to do away with mandated traffic stops entirely.
At the end of last month, the forced stops were formally discontinued. Additionally, the action aims to increase public confidence in law enforcement.
