The Department of Licensing (DOL) adopts and maintains rules that define moving and nonmoving violations for certain vehicles.? Moving violations include any violations committed by the operator of a vehicle while the vehicle is moving, including specified criminal offenses and traffic infractions.? Examples of applicable criminal offenses include Driving Under the Influence, Negligent Driving, and Hit and Run.? Examples of traffic infractions include driving the wrong way on a one-way street, making an improper freeway entrance or exit, embracing, using an improper signal, and failing to signal. ?Nonmoving violations include parking violations, equipment violations, and paperwork violations relating to insurance, registration, licensing, and inspection. ?

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Any person requested or signaled to stop by a law enforcement officer for a traffic infraction has a duty to stop.? Whenever any person is stopped for a traffic infraction, the officer may detain the person for a reasonable period of time necessary to identify the person, check for outstanding warrants, check the status of the person's license, insurance identification, and vehicle registration, and complete and issue a notice of traffic infraction.? An officer who has received notice of the suspension or revocation of a driver's license from the DOL?may stop any vehicle registered to the person whose license has been suspended or revoked.? Washington State Patrol officers may stop a vehicle to check the operator's license and inspect the vehicle's equipment.? Vehicle stops for license or equipment checks are limited to daylight hours by marked patrol vehicles.?

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Certain violations may only be enforced as a secondary action when the operator of a vehicle has been detained for a suspected violation of a separate traffic infraction.? For example, enforcement of dangerously distracted driving, which occurs when the operator of a vehicle engages in any activity not related to the actual operation of the vehicle in a manner that interferes with safe operation of the vehicle on any highway, may only be accomplished as a secondary action.

Grant Program for Responses to Nonmoving Violations.

Subject to appropriation, a grant program is established to support local initiatives that provide solution-oriented responses to nonmoving violations for low-income road users, including any:

• recipient of public assistance under state law;
• participant in the Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program;
• person who is eligible for Medicaid under state law; or
• person who receives an annual income, after taxes, of 125 percent or less of the federal poverty level.

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The Department of Transportation (DOT) must administer the grant program and award grants for nonpunitive intervention programs to help low-income road users achieve compliance with nonmoving violations, including:

• helmet voucher programs;
• registration fee offset programs;
• fix-it tickets;
• repair vouchers; and
• community education workshop.

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Cities, counties, tribal governmental entities, tribal organizations, law enforcement agencies, community colleges, and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply for grant funding.? Grants must be awarded to applicants based on locally developed proposals to establish or expand existing programs, including programs with community-led organizations.? The DOT must report annually on the recipients, locations, and types of projects funded by grants on its website by December 1 of each year.

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Authority for Traffic Stops.

A peace officer is authorized to stop or otherwise detain the operator of a vehicle to enforce one or more of the following as a primary offense:

• any criminal code violation;
• any moving violation, except for driving with a suspended or revoked license when the suspension or revocation was solely because the person:? must furnish proof of financial responsibility for the future; has committed an offense in another state that would not be grounds for license suspension or revocation if it had been committed in Washington; or has received traffic citations or notices of traffic infractions that have resulted in a suspension relating to intermediate drivers' licenses;
• any safety belt violation;
• a vehicle that does not have any license plates, or that has a license plate that does not match the registered make, model, year, and color of the vehicle;
• a vehicle with an expired registration of over 12 months;
• a violation related to certain warning devices; or
• any equipment violation that presents a serious risk to the safety of the operator or others on the roadway.

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Enforcement of any other equipment violations, paperwork violations relating to insurance, registration, licensing, or inspection, and specified violations related to driving with a suspended or revoked license, may only be accomplished as a secondary action when the operator has been stopped or detained for a primary offense.

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"Peace officer" means a general authority peace officer, Washington State Patrol commissioned officer, Department of Fish and Wildlife officer with specified criminal law enforcement powers, or limited authority peace officer who has powers of arrest and carries a firearm as part of normal duty.? "Serious risk to the safety of the operator or others on the roadway" means that, based on the totality of the circumstances, it is reasonable for an objective observer to believe that an equipment violation may cause a collision or injury to the operator or other persons or vehicles in the vicinity, and may include, but is not limited to, the following examples:

• having both taillights, headlights, or brake lights off or nonfunctioning during nighttime or where weather conditions limit visibility;
• a shattered windshield impairing the operator's ability to see; or
• a dragging muffler.

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Upon first contact with the operator, the officer must immediately inform the operator of the initial reason for the stop.? The officer may only question the operator within the scope of the initial reason for the stop, unless the officer detects evidence that establishes reasonable suspicion sufficient to question the operator on a subject outside the scope.? The officer may request a consent search of the operator or the vehicle itself if the initial offense necessitating the stop is a gross misdemeanor or felony.? Before engaging in any consent search, the officer must obtain written consent from the operator after providing an oral explanation and a written consent form that explains the purpose of the search, that the search is voluntary, that the operator may ask to speak with an attorney, and that the operator may choose not to consent to or decline the search at any point.? The form must:

• state that the operator will not be punished or suffer retaliation for not consenting to or declining a search;
• be available, at minimum, in English and either Spanish or the most prevalent language spoken within the jurisdiction; and
• be explained orally if the operator is unable to read the form, using an interpreter from the district communications center language line or other agency resources when necessary.

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Any evidence recovered during a stop, detention, or consent search failing to comply with these requirements is inadmissible in any criminal proceeding.? Certain statutory provisions related to enforcement of traffic laws do not abrogate any other available constitutional, common law, or statutory right of action.

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Beginning January 1, 2026, officers who stop or detain the operator of a vehicle must report the following information:

• the initial reason for the stop and, if applicable, the serious risk necessitating a primary stop for an equipment violation;
• the location and duration of the contact with the operator during the stop;
• whether the stop was recorded and, if so, by what means;
• the known age, gender, and perceived race and ethnicity of the operator, and, if applicable, the language of interpretation used;
• the license plate number, make, model, and year of the vehicle;
• whether a consent search was requested, and whether the operator provided or declined written consent;
• who and what was searched if a consent search was conducted;
• whether any property was seized, with a specific description of such property, or whether any contraband such as a firearm, other weapon, or controlled substance was found, including the specific type, size, and amount of any such contraband, if applicable; and
• whether the stop resulted in no further action, the issuance of a verbal or written warning or citation, an arrest, or any other action.

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Authority for Mailing Warnings of Traffic Infractions.

A peace officer is authorized to mail a warning of a traffic infraction to the registered owner of a vehicle for an equipment violation, or paperwork violation relating to registration, licensing, or inspection, without stopping or detaining the vehicle's operator, if the infraction is committed in the officer's presence.

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Exemptions.

The provisions of the act related to peace officers' authority to stop or detain the operator of a vehicle, or mail a warning of a traffic infraction to the registered owner of a vehicle, do not apply to commercial motor vehicles.