Washington’s Target Zero Teams Project: Reduction in Fatalities during Year One
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Summary
This research note evaluates the initial impact of Washington State’s Target Zero Teams Project (TZTP), a law enforcement initiative designed to reduce traffic fatalities caused by impaired driving. The project was motivated by the prohibition of sobriety checkpoints in Washington and the success of a prior pilot program, the Nighttime Emphasis Enforcement Team (NEET), in Snohomish County. The TZTP expanded the NEET model to Washington’s three most populous counties—King, Pierce, and Snohomish—which accounted for nearly two-thirds of the state’s traffic fatalities. The study aims to report on the reduction in fatalities during the project’s first ten months of operation. The TZTP deployed eighteen Washington State Patrol troopers and three sergeants into three detachments, patrolling exclusively from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Wednesday through Saturday nights. These officers were relieved of regular duties to focus solely on impaired driving enforcement. The project utilized an integrated systems model involving local law enforcement, courts, and community stakeholders, supported by a Data Driven Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) to identify high-risk patrol locations. Publicity efforts included media campaigns and social media updates. The study analyzed enforcement data and fatality statistics from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System for the period July 2010 to April 2011, comparing these figures to the five-year average for the same months. Poisson log-linear regression was used to assess statistical significance against control groups, including Clark and Spokane Counties and the rest of the state. During the first year, TZTP troopers made 3,402 DUI arrests, issued 3,371 speeding citations, and 933 seat belt citations, exceeding the monthly averages of the previous NEET pilot. In the first ten months, alcohol- and drug-involved fatalities in TZTP counties decreased by 34.4%, a decline significantly greater than the 28.4% increase observed in Clark and Spokane Counties and the 8.5% decline in the rest of the state. Speeding-related fatalities dropped by 43.7% in TZTP counties, also significantly outperforming comparison areas. Total traffic fatalities decreased by 28.2% in TZTP counties, though this difference was not statistically significant compared to other regions. King and Pierce Counties showed larger reductions in fatalities than Snohomish County, likely because the latter had already benefited from the earlier NEET pilot. The findings suggest that dedicated, nighttime enforcement teams focusing on impaired driving can significantly reduce alcohol- and drug-involved fatalities, as well as speeding-related deaths. The results indicate that targeted enforcement strategies may have broader impacts on traffic safety beyond their primary focus. While the results are promising, the authors note they are preliminary and await a comprehensive independent evaluation to determine the long-term effectiveness and causal attribution of the TZTP. If sustained, the project demonstrates that full-time nighttime detachments are a viable alternative to sobriety checkpoints for deterring impaired driving.
Key finding
Alcohol- and drug-involved fatalities decreased by 34.4% and speeding-related fatalities decreased by 43.7% in the Target Zero Teams counties during the first ten months of the project compared to the five-year average for the same period.
Methodology
field_study
Provenance
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
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| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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- Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation
- Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes