Month: November 2017

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Is it Illegal to Speed in a Car Commercial?

Q: Is it legal for a car manufacturer to show a car doing an illegal driving maneuver in a commercial?

A: It depends on which illegal driving maneuver you’re talking about. There is a law that prohibits the advertisement of speeding on public roads, but we’ll get to that in a moment. First I’d like to touch on a broader topic that your question brings up. It seems like there’s an arms race going on between car manufacturers, but instead of firepower, they’re competing on horsepower (which generally translates into speed). Continue reading “Is it Illegal to Speed in a Car Commercial?”

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Does a Crash Always Get You a Ticket?

Q: Why is it that you get a ticket from law enforcement if you get into an accident? To pay for them to come out? What if only one party called, shouldn’t that party get the ticket for requesting their service?

A: At a fundamental level, law enforcement officers write tickets at crashes because they see evidence of a traffic violation. The ticket isn’t a form of reimbursement to the agency for the time it takes to respond to the crash. Actually, a law enforcement agency receives only a tiny fraction of a traffic ticket. The rest gets assigned to other various state and local accounts. Continue reading “Does a Crash Always Get You a Ticket?”

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Shaq Wants You to Drive Like You Give a #&%@!

Does adding a celebrity to a traffic safety PSA make it better? We’ve had quite a variety of traffic safety PSAs here in the PSA smash up. Some are gory, some are sentimental, some are sad, some are funny. We’ve even posted a previous celebrity PSA with Helen Mirren (one of my favorites). Ultimately, the goal of a PSA is to get the viewer to change a behavior; in our case, stop dangerous driving behaviors. When Shaq tells you to drive like you give a #&%@, are you inclined listen? Continue reading “Shaq Wants You to Drive Like You Give a #&%@!”

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The Cost of Dangerous Driving in Whatcom County

Q: It seems like there have been a lot more serious crashes than normal lately. Is my perception accurate or have crashes just been making the news more often?

A: Unfortunately, your perception is disturbingly accurate. Over the past ten years, we’ve averaged about 15 lives lost due to traffic crashes. In 2015 and 2016, 11 and 12 people died in crashes, respectively.  So far in 2017, 20 people have been killed in traffic crashes in Whatcom County. That’s approaching our worst record in over a decade, 21 deaths, which occurred in 2008. And there are still two more months left in the year. These aren’t just numbers. Each data point is a tragedy for the family and friends of the person who died. Continue reading “The Cost of Dangerous Driving in Whatcom County”

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Trains and Tanker Trucks Don’t Mix

Q: At the rail crossings at Slater Road and at Grandview Road, what is the requirement for trucks carrying hazardous materials? It makes sense that they stop at uncontrolled crossings, but why do they have to stop when there are crossing signals? Is it a company regulation? At the Grandview crossing they stop empty going west and stop full going east. Why don’t they pull to the side of the road? Is that a requirement? I’ve seen as many as eight cars behind these trucks at crossings.

A: Before I answer this question, let’s take a moment and recall the 2010 film, Unstoppable. (Not to be confused with the 2004 film named Unstoppable or the 2013 film named Unstoppable. Someone in Hollywood needs to be more inventive with titles.) In case you haven’t seen it, here’s a synopsis: An unmanned freight train barrels toward a city while our heroes race against the clock to prevent a catastrophe. In the process, anything on the train track gets annihilated. Continue reading “Trains and Tanker Trucks Don’t Mix”