Washington State Patrol revamps impoundment rules

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LANGLEY, B.C. — The B.C. Trucking Association (BCTA) has convinced the Washington State Patrol to revisit its vehicle impoundment policy.

Since 1999, Washington State law required patrol officers to immediately impound vehicles that were operated by drivers with suspended licences.

The BCTA lobbied against this rule, saying the policy was punitive to trucking companies – especially when Canadian carriers don’t always have ready access to information about driver suspensions in the U.S.

Washington State officials have agreed that rather than impounding vehicles, officers will now notify the carrier about the infraction and the carrier will then have the opportunity to send another driver to move the truck.

Capt. Fred Fakima of the Washington State Patrol, says trucking companies will be provided with a reasonable amount of time to remove the vehicle provided there is adequate parking space available where the infraction took place.

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