Month: December 2023

Q: I see cars going what looks like at least 25 mph in the alley behind where I work. That seems too fast to me. Is there a speed limit for alleys? And if there is, why isn’t it posted?

A: Everything has its limits. The maximum speed for the Saturn V rocket was 25,000 mph. The maximum speed of a Bugatti Chiron (the fastest production road car) is 305 mph. The Mitubishi Mirage (the cheapest car available in the US in 2023) tops out at 105 mph. Maybe you think I’m not taking your question seriously, but it’s quite the opposite.

The Revised Code of Washington has a set of default speed limits for various types of roads. City streets are 25 mph, county roads are 50 mph, and state highways are 60 mph. That’s the starting point, but you’ve driven on roads with other speed limits. If the default limit isn’t appropriate for the design of the road, local authorities can specify other limits.

Continue reading “Speed Limits in Alleys”

Q: I read your column on pedestrians being required to use the sidewalk when one is available. Is there any law about cars not being allowed to block sidewalks? As a runner, I am continually running out into the street to go around all the cars parked in driveways that hang back enough to block the sidewalk.

A: If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit. Wait, no, that’s the wrong phrase for this situation. I wish I could come up with something as clever as Johnnie Cochran did; a phrase burned into our cultural psyche (at least for anyone exposed to the news in the 90s), so memorable that drivers would no longer park their vehicles on the sidewalk.

Continue reading “Blocking the Sidewalk”

Q: I recently learned that that bicyclists have the right-of-way in the Netherlands. I’ve always heard that bikes outnumber cars over there and it is a bicyclists’ paradise.  But they have the right-of-way; cars and pedestrians have to give way to avoid getting hit by a bike! Why don’t we do something like that here?

A: Can you imagine a place where bikes rule the road, while cars and pedestrians have to fend for themselves? Neither can the Dutch. Many people would agree with you that the Netherlands is a cycling paradise, but it didn’t get that way because of excessively bike-friendly laws.

Continue reading “The Making of a Cycling Paradise”

Q: Why don’t some drivers ever take their free right on red? It’s frustrating sitting there behind someone when they could just go.

A: I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the people reading this question are cheering you on. I am not one of them. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not entirely opposed to the right turn on red. It’s more the attitude I’m not agreeing with.

I’ll explain myself in a moment, but first, a bit about how we got here. The Right Turn on Red (RTOR) has been around for a long time in some parts of the country, but it didn’t become a national institution until the 1970s. The energy crisis prompted the federal government to tie highway funding to energy conservation. One of the conservation requirements was reducing idling for a few seconds by permitting drivers to make a right turn on a red light.

Continue reading “Right Turn on Red is not a Right”