OLYMPIA, WA – Thousands of cases have piled up in Washington as they await state testing to confirm if a driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Prosecutors say this is leaving people on the road despite potentially having driven impaired, while authorities await results.
To relieve pressure on the Washington State Patrol’s toxicology lab, a new law signed Wednesday would allow accredited private labs to conduct these tests for impaired driving offenses. The policy is seen as a piece of the puzzle to clear the bottleneck, not a panacea.
“This solution provides relief while we work to improve long-term resources at the state toxicology lab,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said as he signed the legislation at the Capitol.
At the end of 2025, roughly 16,700 impaired driving cases awaited testing, with waits lasting at least 10 months, according to Washington State Patrol. In Seattle, getting results back takes an average of 22 months, City Attorney Erika Evans told lawmakers last month.
Meanwhile, the statute of limitations for a driving under the influence charge in Washington is two years.
The two-year transportation budget lawmakers passed last year included $3 million to hire more staff and for equipment to bolster the state toxicology lab, with the goal of unclogging the DUI backlog. Some of that money will carry over into the next budget cycle.
Since 2014, the lab has seen a 59% increase in submissions for testing, to more than 18,000 requests per year. But staffing levels haven’t kept pace, according to a Washington State Patrol report.
State patrol is using the money on a temporary unit focused on expanding DUI testing, but warns continued state investment will be necessary to maintain progress. State patrol spokesperson Chris Loftis noted the agency is chipping away at the backlog so far this year as more scientists finish their training.
Senate Bill 5880 passed both chambers of the Legislature unanimously. That’s despite some misgivings from local officials about the costs of going to private labs and bringing in outside staff to testify at trials.
Before submitting evidence, cities and counties using a private lab to conduct the analysis must sign a contract with the lab requiring its personnel to be available for court proceedings. They are not required to use this option. But if they choose to go this route and seek evidence back from state patrol before it’s analyzed, they must reimburse the state for the cost of returning it.
Similar legislation in 2025 didn’t advance far in the legislative process.
Debate about how to prevent drunk driving has intensified alongside rising traffic deaths.
For years, lawmakers have considered lowering the legal drunk driving limit from a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08% to 0.05%. For the first time, the policy passed the Washington state Senate this year, but quickly stalled in the House.
Of the 737 deaths on Washington roads in 2024, the last year for which data is available, nearly half have involved an impaired driver. That was a tepid improvement from over half of the 809 fatalities in 2023. But it’s a far cry from the pre-pandemic era when roughly 550 people died in crashes each year.
Rep. Dan Griffey, R-Allyn, cited a case in Mason County as an example of the need for speeding up testing. In January 2024, state troopers believed a driver who crashed in Belfair was high on drugs. They took a blood sample and sent it to the state lab. But a year later, the results still weren’t in, and the same driver crossed into oncoming traffic on the Key Peninsula and killed a motorcyclist in a crash.
Griffey wants to see tests done within 45 days.
“Justice delayed is justice denied,” Griffey said in a statement. “And when it comes to impaired driving, delays can cost lives.”
This story first appeared on Washington State Standard.
