February 2023 – The Wise Drive

February 23, 2023July 18, 2024

Parking in the Center Turn Lane

Q: I often see trucks parked in the center turn lane and unloading cargo. I also see truck trailers parked in the center turn lane in rural areas after unloading heavy equipment. What are the rules? Can just anyone park in a center turn lane and conduct business or unload items?

A: A thought popped into my head when I read the last part of your question. Imagine if this went beyond deliveries, and guerrilla food trucks started conducting business in center turn lanes, with pedestrians darting across the road for their burger or burrito. Or maybe the cook tosses your food to you from across the lane, like the Pike Place Market fishmongers.

February 16, 2023July 18, 2024

Signaling for Other Drivers

Q: When coming up behind someone who is signaling to turn left (into a driveway or at an uncontrolled intersection) and stopped waiting for cross traffic to clear, I turn on my left turn signal as well, even though I won’t be turning. When the other car turns, I turn off my signal and go on my way. My husband thinks this is crazy. I think it helps alert people behind me to what is happening ahead of us. I thought I was taught to do this when I learned to drive. Did I just make this up?

A: This is a first. I’ve had so many conversations about people turning and not using their turn signal. I’ve never had someone ask about using their turn signal and then not turning.

February 2, 2023July 18, 2024

Moving to .05 to Prevent Impaired Driving

Unless this is the only news(ish) article you read each week, you’ve likely at least seen a headline about the bill that would lower our state’s impaired driving per se Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) level to .05. This is such an obviously good idea that no one could possibly disagree (he says with misplaced confidence.) Before we go any further, I’ll state my bias – as you might guess, I’m inclined to support things that increase the safety of all road users.

We all have our biases, and not everyone shares mine, so let’s start with something we can all agree on. Too many people are killed in impaired driving crashes in our state. Over half of all traffic fatalities in Washington involve impairment and 32 percent of those involve alcohol. No matter what your political persuasion, that’s unacceptable. We’re seeing this now in Washington’s legislature with bipartisan agreement that something needs to be done to reverse the current trend of increasing traffic fatalities.