MOSES LAKE — Drivers will be subject to new penalties if they are charged with negligent driving in collisions that involve people who aren’t in a car or truck. 

Revisions to the law went into effect Jan. 1. A new section imposes criminal penalties where the negligent driver kills a pedestrian or “vulnerable user of a public way,” according to HB 1112. Vulnerable users are defined as motorcyclists, bicyclists, people on mopeds, people with motorized scooters or bikes and people with mobility scooters.  

Kyle Foreman, public information officer for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, said the revisions are targeted at cases where there were limited options to charge a driver. 

“The legislature felt there was a gap between first- and second-degree (negligent driving),” Foreman said.  

Penalties for second-degree negligent driving didn’t always match the offense, he said. 

“If we didn’t have enough evidence and had no probable cause (for first-degree negligent driving), and because of that (the driver) got bumped down to second-degree, that’s not a very tough penalty,” Foreman said. “If (drivers) didn’t meet all the criteria, it’d just be dropped to negligent driving and that usually ended up in a traffic citation. The additional penalty could be imposed in cases when someone’s negligent driving leads to the injury or death or of a vulnerable user.” 

Drivers still are subject to felony charges in cases of serious injury or death, he said. 

“If you’re driving under the influence, you’re driving recklessly without regard for others – yes, if you kill somebody, you’re going to get charged with a felony,” he said. “There were still times where someone was driving in a negligent fashion and hurt a pedestrian or someone on this list of vulnerable people, and if the evidence couldn’t meet the threshold for a higher charge, it would get bumped down to the lesser charge.”  

The new law provides law enforcement and prosecutors with more tools.  

“It does offer investigators a more robust definition and category to be able to charge someone for the highest possible offense,” Foreman said. 

Not all cases will fit the criteria, he said. 

"There are going to be times where it is truly an accident,” he said.  

Drivers convicted of first-degree negligent homicide under the new section could get up to 364 days in jail, a fine between $1,000 and $5,000 and have their license suspended for 90 days.  

In a case involving a vulnerable road user, a driver could be charged with second-degree negligent driving if the victim was seriously injured. Those drivers also are subject to a fine between $1,000 and $5,000 and will lose their license for 90 days.  

Drivers who keep driving after their license is suspended for negligent driving will be subject to fines – or could go to jail if they’re found to have multiple violations. That section of the law remains unchanged.