Impaired drivers killed six people in a week, two in SR 18 crash

In just a week, eight people have died on King County highways, six of them from crashes involving impaired drivers, and two on Friday morning in a fatal crash on SR 18 near Tiger Mountain.

RELATED: Fatal crash snarls morning traffic on SR 18 near Tiger Mountain

This caps off a marked increase in arrests for impaired driving in 2018. Through Sept. 30, there have been 2,699 DUI arrests in King County, a 30 percent increase through that same period in 2017, and a 50 percent increase from 2015.

Additionally, as of August, Western Washington had seen 30 DUI arrests with minors present in 2018 alone. On average, that number accounts for an entire year.

“Clearly, we have a lot of work to do,” said Washington State Patrol Captain Ron Mead in a news release.

“Impaired driving is a choice, and a choice that far too often leads to tragedy,” he added. “I implore the public to make good choices on both choosing not to drive impaired and choosing not to get into a vehicle with an impaired driver.”

Most recently, a fatal crash on SR 18 involving an impaired driver killed two women. The driver responsible is currently in custody at Harborview Medical Center and faces two counts of vehicular homicide.

That marks the 37th and 38th deaths on King County state routes and interstates this year, a trend that Mead describes as “simply alarming.”

“That is not only 38 lives lost, but 38 families forever changed as the result of the loss of a loved one,” he said.

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