Nearly 1 in 3 Washington Traffic Deaths in 2024 Involved a Drunk Driver
New data analysis released today by Phillips Law Firm confirms that alcohol-impaired driving remained Washington State’s second-deadliest road behavior in 2024, contributing to 239 fatalities and representing 32.6% of the state’s total traffic death toll for the year. More alarming still, the analysis reveals that the overwhelming majority of those alcohol-involved deaths were not caused by drivers marginally over the legal limit — they were caused by drivers who were dangerously, and in many cases catastrophically, intoxicated. Of Washington’s 239 alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2024, 151 — 63% — involved a driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .15 or higher, nearly double the state’s legal limit of .08. Those 151 deaths represent 20.7% of Washington’s entire 2024 traffic fatality total of 730: more than one in five Washington road deaths involved a driver who was not simply over the legal limit but operating a vehicle at a level of...