Bill proposes "scarlet letter" for DUIs: bright-yellow license plates

Bill proposes "scarlet letter" for DUIs: bright-yellow license plates
This article originally published by at The Seattle Times .

OLYMPIA — Sen. Mike Carrell wants everyone on the road to know who's been caught driving drunk.

He's sponsoring a bill that would require people convicted of drunken driving to put fluorescent-yellow license plates on their cars for one year — once their driving privileges have been restored.

"I've talked to the law-enforcement agencies and they think it would be an awfully good idea to have a way of visibly telling sheep from goats out on the road," said Carrell, R-Lakewood.

It also could help law-abiding drivers as a signal to give a wider berth to anyone behind the wheel of a car with bright-yellow plates, Carrell said.

But not everyone agrees that such a public designation is the best way to go after drunken drivers. ...

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Mr. Stocker takes cases from King County, Pierce County and Snohomish County, as well as the following cities and towns: Algona, Auburn, Bainbridge Island, Bellevue, Black Diamond, Bonney Lake, Bothell, Buckley, Burien, Carnation, Clyde Hill, Covington, Des Moines, DuPont, Duvall, Edgewood, Edmonds, Enumclaw, Everett, Fall City, Federal Way, Fife, Fircrest, Hunts Point, Issaquah, Kenmore, Kent, Kirkland, Lacey, Lake Forest Park, Lake Stevens, Lakewood, Lynnwood, Maple Valley, Marysville, Medina, Mercer Island, Mill Creek, Milton, Monroe, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo, Newcastle, North Bend, Olympia, Pacific, Puyallup, Redmond, Renton, Ruston, Sammamish, SeaTac, Seattle, Shoreline, Snohomish, Steilacoom, Sumner, Tacoma, Tukwila, Tumwater, University Place, Woodinville, and Yarrow Point.