Washington SR-22 & Car Insurance Requirements

Offer-and-reject. RCW 48.22.030 requires every liability policy to include UIM coverage — which Washington defines broadly to bundle uninsured + underinsured + hit-and-run + phantom-vehicle — defaulting to the same limits as the liability coverage, but the named insured or spouse may reject it in writing. PIP is likewise optional: offered on every policy, waivable in writing (RCW 48.22.085).

From the date proof was required (RCW 46.29.600(1)(a)) — not the reinstatement date and not the conviction date. tolls, doesn't restart: if the person surrenders the license and reapplies within the window, proof is reestablished for the remainder of the 3 years (46.29.600(3)).

The SR-22 (certificate of insurance, RCW 46.29.460) is required as proof of FR for the future following events that suspend/revoke driving privileges: DUI (46.61.502 -> administrative suspension 46.20.308/46.20.3101 and conviction-based revocation 46.61.5055(9); revocation grounds 46.20.285), unsatisfied judgments, and uninsured accidents requiring security (46.29.070 -> proof of FR 46.29.420). Reinstatement after any of these requires filing and maintaining the SR-22 (46.20.311(1)(b)/(2)(c)), held 3 years (46.29.600). Driving uninsured by itself is only a traffic infraction (46.30.020) and not a freestanding SR-22 trigger. Washington uses no points system.

Serve the applicable suspension/revocation period (46.20.3101 / 46.61.5055; 1-year minimum for revocations, 2 years for vehicular homicide per 46.20.285). For DUI: complete the substance-use-disorder evaluation/treatment enrollment (46.61.5056) and have a verified functioning IID installed (46.20.720). File and thereafter maintain proof of FR — the SR-22 — under ch 46.29 (46.20.311(1)(b)/(2)(c)), held 3 years (46.29.600). Pay the reissue fee: $170 for DUI/implied-consent, $75 otherwise (46.20.311). DOL must also be satisfied of driving ability for revocations.

Four statutory methods (RCW 46.30.020(1)(a)): (1) a motor vehicle liability policy at 25/50/10; (2) a liability bond at the same amounts (46.29.090); (3) a money/securities deposit of $60,000 cash or qualifying securities with DOL, requiring evidence of no unsatisfied judgments (46.29.550); or (4) self-insurance, available to a person with more than 25 vehicles registered in Washington via a discretionary DOL certificate (46.29.630). The SR-22 itself is the certificate-of-insurance method (46.29.460).

RCW 46.25.090 (federal FMCSA structure). 1-year disqualification (first major offense): DUI — including a DUI in a non-commercial vehicle (0.08) — or CMV at 0.04+ BAC or any THC; refusal; leaving the scene; vehicle used in a felony; CMV-while-disqualified; negligent-operation fatality. 3-year if the offense occurred while transporting hazardous materials. lifetime (reducible to 10 years per federal rule) for a 2nd major offense. lifetime, no reduction: a vehicle used in a controlled-substance manufacture/distribution felony or a human-trafficking offense. Lesser ladders: serious traffic violations (60 days 2nd / 120 days 3rd in 3 years), out-of-service-order violations, railroad-crossing violations. CMV alcohol threshold is 0.04. Important for CDL holders: a DUI in a personal (non-commercial) vehicle still triggers a 1-year CDL disqualification.

Washington is administered by the Department of Licensing (DOL), not a DMV, and is a tort state rather than no-fault — both PIP and UM/UIM are offered but waivable, neither mandatory. It uses a standard SR-22 (§46.29.460) and does not use the FR-44 or SR-22A. The SR-22 lasts 3 years from the date proof was required, and the clock tolls (pauses) rather than restarting if the license is surrendered and later reapplied for. Minimums are 25/50/10 and have been unchanged since 1980 — among the lowest in the country. Driving uninsured is a traffic infraction, not a crime: the penalty is set by the state Supreme Court schedule (about $550) with no fixed statutory amount and no first/subsequent escalation, and showing proof you were actually insured gets the citation dismissed for a $25 cost (knowingly showing false or expired proof is a separate misdemeanor). DUI per-se thresholds are 0.08 alcohol, 5.00 ng/ml THC, 0.02 under 21, and 0.04 for CMVs. License action runs on two parallel tracks — administrative implied-consent and conviction-based — with day-for-day credit, a $375 administrative hearing fee, a 30-day temporary license, and a 7-day window to request a hearing. The felony-DUI lookback extended from 10 to 15 years effective January 1, 2026. An ignition interlock is mandatory on all vehicles for 1, 5, or 10 years depending on prior restrictions. Driving while suspended has three degrees, and doing so solely for an unfiled SR-22 is the lightest (3rd degree). Financial-responsibility alternatives include a policy, a bond, a $60,000 deposit, or self-insurance for fleets of 25+ vehicles. Registration suspension is narrow — only after an uninsured-accident judgment or security failure where the driver owns the vehicle. Washington uses no points system (it relies on a habitual-offender framework).