Opinion ID: 2498924
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: WSP's Statutory Duty

Text: ¶ 20 Since 1937, with the enactment of Washington's motor vehicle act, Title 46 RCW, law enforcement officers in this state have been required to prepare accident reports for accidents on state highways. RCW 46.52.030 (Laws of 1937, ch. 189, § 135). Drivers involved in collisions may also submit a vehicle collision report. RCW 46.52.030(1). These reports are compiled and collected pursuant to RCW 46.52.060 (Laws of 1937, ch. 189, § 138) of the motor vehicle act, which imposes a duty on the chief of the WSP to file, tabulate, and analyze all accident reports and to publish annually, immediately following the close of each fiscal year, and monthly during the course of the year, statistical information based thereon showing the number of accidents, the location, the frequency, whether any driver involved in the accident was distracted at the time of the accident and the circumstances thereof, and other statistical information which may prove of assistance in determining the cause of vehicular accidents. These reports must then be made available to the DOT for further tabulation and analysis for pertinent data relating to the regulation of highway traffic, highway construction, vehicle operators and all other purposes. Id. ¶ 21 The record in this case establishes that WSP provided accident reports collected pursuant to the above statutory duty on request for many years. CP at 295. WSP was also able to, and did, provide reports of accidents that occurred at the same location. Id. The basic process of the WSP involved receiving paper accident reports and then sorting the reports' reference numbers by city street names and five-digit county road reference numbers. CP at 305. Thus, if a citizen wanted reports from accidents occurring at a specific location, he or she would provide the WSP with the street name or county road reference (available through the county engineer). CP at 304-05. The WSP would then search the paper reports to obtain the collision report numbers specific to the identified location. CP at 305. ¶ 22 The State asserts that, under this system, it was not possible for the WSP to produce an accurate list of location-specific accident reports. See, e.g., Pet. for Review at 9, 13. It is unclear exactly what the State deems accurate, but this assertion may be evaluated in light of the DOT's current ability to narrow accident locations down to 1/100 of a mile or roughly 50 feet. [3] CP at 195. In any event, it is undisputed that these reports, however accurate or burdensome, were provided upon request to members of the public for several years. The State's own public records officer explained in a deposition in response to such requests that before 2003 she would roll out a big long bunch of paper reports and try to find every reference to that particular street I could but that it was time-consuming. CP at 305. ¶ 23 This process changed in 2003 after the United States Supreme Court decided Guillen II, limiting the scope of the federal privilege allowed by 23 U.S.C. § 409. That case and the State records policy that followed are discussed below.