A bill aimed at reducing inequity in traffic stops and increasing safety on the road had a hearing in committee on Monday. House Bill 1513, also called Traffic Safety For All, would reprioritize the types of stops officers make to focus on safety issues such as DUIs, distracted driving, and speeding. Proponents say this change would help increase safety. Research from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission found that fatalities increase when officers give fewer citations for safety-related issues. The bill says a police officer may not stop a driver for a nonmoving violation such as expired tabs, a misdemeanor warrant, or equipment failure unless it presents an immediate safety threat on the road. In addition to increasing safety on the roads, this would also combat racial inequities, the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability says. Washington State Patrol troopers searched Black, Hispanic and Pacific Islander drivers roughly twice as often as white drivers, but found a lower rate of contraband, according to an analysis by InvestigateWest in 2019. And Native Americans were searched at five times the rate of white drivers. The bill states that police officers would have to inform dispatch of the reason for the stop, inform the driver and any vehicle occupants of the reason upon first contact, and must report certain information any time they stop or detain a driver. READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.king5.com/article/news/politics/state-politics/washington-state-house-bill-1513-traffic-stops-fatalities-racial-equity/281-89036c2b-51a6-4ded-aa60-b0ce24732aca