July 2020 – The Wise Drive

July 30, 2020July 30, 2020

I’m Afraid You’re Just Too Darn Loud

Q: My question concerns noisy motorcycles. It is a great irritation to me when I hear loud motorcycles on the streets or the highway. I believe that most cities have noise ordinances. Why aren’t they enforced for motorcycles? Any light you could shed on this question would be appreciated.

A: There’s that scene in Back to the Future when Marty McFly and his band compete at a battle of the bands. Twenty seconds into the song one of the judges picks up his megaphone and cuts them off, saying, “I’m afraid you’re just too darn loud.” If only it were that easy to put an end to excessively loud vehicles.

In an effort to be thorough in my research I downloaded an app that measures sound volume. And then I immediately used it to see how loud the seagull on my neighbor’s roof was squawking. The ambient daytime noise level in my neighborhood hovers around 40 decibels. When that bird would squawk the needle jumped up to 50 decibels. As a refresher from high school science class, the decibel scale is not linear. Moving from 40 to 50 decibels isn’t a 25 percent increase; ten points on the decibel meter equates to a ten-fold increase in sound pressure.

July 23, 2020July 23, 2020

The Slow Merge; It’s More Than a Horsepower Problem

Q: I often see cars enter highways at speeds well below the speed limit. The cars merge without getting up to speed. Other drivers routinely move left to make way for them. I think it’s dangerous for merging drivers to expect those on the highway to yield or slow down. Most often, the cars do reach the speed limit, just later than they should. Maybe those who drive slowly should put on their flasher lights. Wouldn’t it make sense for there to be a minimum speed posted on I-5?

A: Back when America built the interstate system our roads rumbled with V-8 powered cars ready to launch onto any on-ramp and reach freeway speeds before merging onto the highway. At least that’s how I imagine it; the Washington stretch of Interstate 5 was completed in 1969, before I was born. But my imagination doesn’t reflect reality. Yes, the 1970 Cadillac El Dorado had a 500 cubic inch engine (if that doesn’t mean anything to you just know that it’s huge). But as a kid I envied my neighbor’s 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger, a car with about as much power as a Honda Fit. The reality is, as long as we’ve had freeways, there have been cars (and drivers) that don’t reach freeway speeds before merging.

July 16, 2020July 16, 2020

Getting There – An Important Part of Camping

Q: I hope to soon be the owner of a new (to me) travel trailer, and as a first time RVer, would like to make sure I’m safe. What do I need to know before towing a trailer?

A: Washington is the greatest place in the galaxy for camping. Bold statement, I know, especially given the current state of astronomy. Recently astronomers announced that they estimate there are 36 communicating civilizations in our galaxy. But that doesn’t mean any of those civilizations like camping or have built campgrounds, so I think it’s safe to say that Earth has the best camping in the Milky Way, and Washington is the best place on Earth. Ergo, Washington is the best place in the galaxy for camping (at least when the weather’s good).

July 9, 2020July 9, 2020

Parking Lots – A Place To Practice Kindness

Q: What is proper etiquette when in a parking lot? Are there rules about how to handle other drivers and people walking to and from their cars?

A: With a few exceptions, traffic laws in Washington are written for road users on public highways. They mostly don’t apply to private property like a shopping mall parking lot or the field at your uncle’s house where you learned to drive a tractor. The exceptions include more serious traffic crimes like impaired driving. While most of the rules here apply only to public roadways (and their associated public parking spots) that doesn’t mean we can’t learn something from the law about how to drive in a private parking lot. It’s just that what we take from the Revised Code of Washington will work more like a recommended best practice rather than something you’re legally obligated to do.

July 5, 2020October 2, 2020

Stop, Don’t Stop

I recently encountered this pair of signs while driving through an unfamiliar area.

Let’s count all the ways this is so wrong:

Conflicting directions: Do I stop? Do I never stop? Is this a quantum physics problem where matter can travel multiple paths simultaneously as long as it’s not being observed (by the police)?
Too many words: The first time I drove through the intersection I actually didn’t have time to read the small print. I was too busy looking for cross-traffic to focus on all that text. All I read was, “Stop – No stopping any time.” I had to go through the intersection a second time to read it all. (And a third time to pull over and get a picture.)
Distracting: Intersections have more crashes than any other part of the road system. Signs should be about safety. If you’re worried about people trying to sell their cars, put that sign somewhere else.
Confusing: Should I run the stop sign if I’m trying to sell my car? What does this sign pairing want me to do? I was driving a rental car at the time so I’m pretty sure I was supposed to just drive straight though (not really.)

It’s rare that we encounter traffic signs this absurd, which is a credit to the traffic engineers who almost always get it right. But not this time.

And I should point out that this wasn’t local (which you probably figured out from the clear blue sky and the high desert terrain.) So don’t be teasing our local traffic engineers about this.

July 2, 2020July 2, 2020

The 100 Deadliest Days

I generally like to keep this weekly column somewhat light-hearted when possible; this is not one of those weeks. Recently someone emailed me with a request for information about teen drivers. Without even looking at new data I can tell you the basics; young drivers (age 16-25) make up 13 percent of the driving population but are involved in 31 percent of Washington’s fatal crashes. And right now it’s peak season for teen driver crashes.

We’re one month in to what is often referred to as the “100 deadliest days,” the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The summer months get this grim moniker because of the increase in fatal crashes involving teen drivers during this timeframe and, despite decreases in traffic volume (which you’ve probably noticed has recently been picking back up), this summer we have reason to be concerned. Since Memorial Day, eight drivers in the 15 to 19 age range have been involved in fatal crashes in Washington, the most (tying 2018 and 2016) in the last seven years.