Navigating Backed Up Off-Ramps

Q: Traffic on the freeway has increased over the years and now exiting traffic sometimes comes to a stop in the traffic lanes of the freeway. It’s really scary to have to come to a stop and see traffic piling up behind me. I almost feel like staying in the left lane and taking the next exit. What are your suggestions when encountering this situation?

A: One of the drawbacks of living in a place where lots of people want to be is that we end up with lots of people. Long-time Washington residents can remember when rush hour was really only an hour and you almost had to leave the state to find a legitimate traffic jam. But we couldn’t keep it to ourselves and now the infrastructure can’t maintain pace with the popularity of Washington.

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The Myth of the Dangerous Deaf Driver

Q: There is a commercial on TV featuring a deaf driver. Are deaf people allowed to drive, or are they restricted because of their hearing loss?

A: Perhaps you saw the car commercial featuring Kris Martin, a six-time National Kart Champion, NASCAR, and Le Mans professional race car driver who is deaf. If so, I hope you found him as inspirational as I did. But being an inspiration isn’t one of the qualifications for a driver license. That’s okay for Kris though, and for many other deaf people, because being deaf isn’t a disqualifier.

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What About (Not So) Slow-Moving Vehicles?

Q: I’ve always wondered about the five-car rule when you are driving the speed limit. I pull over as I don’t like being in front of aggressive drivers, but is that illegal too, when you aren’t technically a slow-moving vehicle?

A: Sometimes a question, instead of prompting an answer, generates more questions. It’s like asking, “What is the meaning of life? Are we alone in the universe? Is bowling a game or a sport?”

Before we get to more questions or answers, let’s do a quick review of the “five-car rule.” The law says that on a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe, a slow-moving vehicle shall turn off the roadway at a safe location if there are five or more vehicle in a line behind them. The law then defines a slow-moving vehicle as one traveling at a speed slower than “the normal flow of traffic at the particular time and place.”

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Listen to Your Pharmacist – Medications and DUI

Q: I just had surgery and I was prescribed some pain killers that say, “Do not drive a motor vehicle or operate machinery.” I’m sure that’s good advice, but is there any law that I’m breaking if I drive after taking my medication?

A: Who do you visualize when I say, “Impaired driver?” If you let your brain respond without a filter, you’re probably imagining a person staggering out of a bar, fumbling with their keys, slurring their words, and all that goes along with too much alcohol. It’s the image we’ve been shown in movies and impaired driving public service announcements, so it’s hard not to default to that.

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Left Turns in a Roundabout?

Q: Can you please write about signaling at traffic circles? I rarely see anyone signal to make a right or left turn. It causes confusion when trying to enter a traffic circle because one has to almost guess whether someone coming from the other side of the circle is going to go straight or make a left turn.

A: Communication is such a big part of driving and yet, we have so few tools to let other drivers know what we’re doing. We’ve got brake lights, turn signals, and in an emergency, the horn. Those are the official signals, at least. Then there’s the wave at the four-way stop when everyone’s trying to remember who goes next, and various unsanctioned hand gestures. Those other signals might help you understand the emotional state of the driver, but they don’t help much at clarifying their driving intentions.

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The Proper Way to Turn Left

Q: I was recently told by a friend that the proper way to make a left hand turn at a stop light was to proceed into the intersection when the light turns green, then wait until oncoming traffic has cleared and make your left turn, even if the light has turned red. (He kept saying “Read your Driver Manual” but I could not find the answer.) I was taught to wait until you are certain you will be able to turn left before it turns red. Have I been doing it wrong all these years?

A: If your friend took his own advice (to read the driver guide), he might be inclined to retract his statement. I’ve checked with reliable sources, including the Revised Code of Washington, the Washington Driver Guide, driving instructors, and police officers. None of them support your friend’s position. If you squint, you could conclude that it might not be illegal, but that’s certainly not the same as “the proper way.”

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Getting Good at Not Skidding

Q: What should I do if my car starts to skid on ice or snow?

A: Many years ago, I learned a valuable principle from a defensive tactics instructor. He said, “If you don’t want to get hit, don’t be there.” His advice was intended for physical confrontations, but metaphorically it works in a lot of other situations. Maybe you already see where I’m going with this.

It’s easy to mistake knowledge for skill, and I’m concerned that if I answer this question the way I think you want me to, that I’ll perpetuate that mistake, so let’s shift the focus from hazard recovery to hazard avoidance. Skidding is an indicator that your driving has exceeded the limitations of the road conditions, so instead of practicing how to recover from a skid, we should practice how to drive within the limits of the road conditions and prevent the skid.

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Why You Shouldn’t Disable Your Airbag

Q: I drive an Escalade. It’s a tank. My airbag went off in a collision and it almost killed me. I think I should have the option to disconnect it. It’s my car. Many other cars don’t have it. Why should I?

A: I’d like to start with a different question. Does the jurisdiction responsible for designing, building, and maintaining a road also have an obligation to protect the people who use that road? If your answer is no, we’re going to disagree on what follows. But before you answer, let’s talk about roller coasters.

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Picking the Right Lane

Q: When driving on a four-lane road through a neighborhood, is it safer to drive in the left lane and risk a head-on collision, or the right with less space to react to people or objects unexpectedly entering the roadway?

A: There’s that scene in Empire Strikes Back when Han Solo is trying to evade several TIE Fighters by going into an asteroid field. C-3PO warns him, “Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to one.” Han replies, “Never tell me the odds.”

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Emergency Vehicles at Traffic Lights

Q: If one is stopped at a traffic light on a street with a middle divider, what are you supposed to do when an emergency vehicle, sirens blaring, approaches from behind? To clear the way, you would have to run the red light.

A: The law, of course, is clear on how to handle a red light in a normal driving situation. However, there’s no section of the law titled, “What to do at a red light when emergency vehicles come up behind you.” If you’ve been reading this column for a while, you might have noticed that unusual driving situations keep popping up. What you can’t see is all the questions that go unanswered, partly because I can only answer one question a week, but also because sometimes the situations are so unique that the answer would only be relevant to the person asking the question.

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