BREMERTON, Wash. - Back in June, police in Bremerton held a special emphasis patrol, targeting drivers who were talking on their cell phones. It was in response to a new law that made such distracted driving a primary offense.
Little did they know, a mix-up at the state level meant they had no authority to issue those tickets.
Now, the city is dismissing those tickets, 83 in all, including similar ones dating back to 2008, when cell phone driving was considered a secondary offense. They are also refunding any fines already paid for the tickets, which range from $124 to $176.
Whenever the State Legislature passes a new traffic law, the Washington Department of Licensing is supposed to update their rulebook, called the Model Traffic Ordinance, or MTO. Most cities and counties in Washington have laws that adopt the MTO as their own traffic code. It's a quick, economical way for cities to comply with state laws without having to constantly update their laws, said Theresa Ewing, Bremerton Municipal court administrator.
A few weeks ago, however, the state Traffic Safety Commission contacted the Department of Licensing with questions about the validity of the law from Lynnwood Police, said DOL Spokesman Tony Sermonti.
A check of the MTO revealed it had not been updated since 2004.
"It's a problem, Bremerton Municipal Court Judge James Docter said, "because the city doesn't have any authority over any laws it hasn't adopted."
"We assumed that once [the law is] passed, the MTO gets updated," said Ewing. "Usually they're great about it, but I don't know what happened.
State trooper-issued tickets are not affected by the situation, as the Washington State Patrol directly abides by the state law. But many local jurisdictions could be affected. Sermonti said they were contacted by courts and police from the cities of Mountlake Terrace, Ephrata, Monroe, Prosser, and Bremerton.
Olympia also is potentially affected, but Seattle and Tacoma, which have their own traffic codes, are not. While Bellevue and Lynnwood both adopt MTO for their traffic code, they are not affected because they each passed their own overriding distracted driving ordinances.
On July 1, the DOL issued an emergency rule updating the MTO to reflect the cell phone driving law.
"It was an oversight on our part, but we've taken steps so this won't happen again," said Sermonti, adding that they've centralized their rule-making office.
Docter said he and his staff had to do double the work as a result of the situation.
"It's also a frustration to the citizens, because they have to deal with it," he said. "They have to send in the money [before] we process the paperwork. We send the money to Olympia, and it's frustrating because that all has to be undone."
The bulk of the citations in Bremerton were issued from July 1 back to June 10, when the cell phone driving law became a primary offense. But even secondary offenses dating back to 2008 are in question, though less serious because they do not show up on driving records.
Still, that leaves potentially thousands of drivers across the state with tickets of questionable validity.
But most drivers were pretty forgiving, as they agreed that talking on texting on the phone while driving is a dangerous problem that persists, despite the laws.
"I work for a large corporation, and guess what? They have these kinds of snafus all the time. The government isn't immune to it. They make mistakes too," said Bernard Bennett, a Bremerton resident who says he's OK with it "as long as they fix it, and they're fixing it right?"
That depends on the city or county you're talking about. You should check with them or the Department of Licensing to see if you are affected.
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