Author: DOUG DAHL

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Cannabis Consumption When Your House Can Drive

Q: I live in an RV and I’m a cannabis user. I’m trying to abide by the law, which says that you can only use cannabis in a private location, which for me is my home. But my home is a vehicle and I don’t want to get a DUI. Can I use cannabis in my RV legally?

A: I’ll begin by thanking you for your effort to keep your cannabis consumption within the bounds of the law. But if you’re only allowed to consume cannabis at home, and your home can drive on the road, what do you do? I appreciate your concern, so I’ll start by putting you at ease; this isn’t actually the problem you think it might be.

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Hearse in a HOV Lane

Q: There is a national story circulating about the driver of a hearse who, when pulled over for traveling in the HOV lane, said he thought it was okay because there was a body on board. It was not okay, but he got off with a warning largely because of his unique excuse. However, I took a look at the RCWs and I don’t see anything in them that prevents you from doing that here. A morbid, but interesting possibility . . . Would it be legal in Washington?

A: Okay, this might get a little metaphysical, so chant your mantra, find your center, or do whatever you do before asking the big questions about life. Before we get to the deep questions though, I’d like to point out that the stakes are about to get higher for HOV violators. On July 28, the new HOV law takes effect. Actually, the law is the same, but the penalties got steeper. In addition to the original fine of $136, legislators have added an additional $50 for a first offense and $150 for a second offense in a two year period. There’s also a $200 add-on for anyone that uses a “dummy, doll, or other human facsimile” in the passenger seat to try to fake out the cops. That adds up pretty fast; if your second offense includes a faux human, you’re looking at a $486 ticket.

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Traffic Law vs. Safe Driving – Part 2

Q: Is it legal to text while riding bike on a public road? I saw this yesterday.

A: This seems like a great opportunity for Traffic Law Vs. Best Practice, Episode Two. A few weeks ago we covered several examples of how the law sets a pretty low standard for road user behavior.  Those cases were all for drivers, so this time let’s focus on bike riders. Should you text while riding bike on a public road? No, of course not. That would be ridiculous. Is it legal? Pretty much. I’ll explain.

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Shaving and Baseball

Here’s the third of three distracted driving PSAs in partnership with the Bellingham Bells. You might think this one borders on ridiculous, but admit it, you’ve seen people do some crazy things while driving. The consequences of distraction during a game pale compared to what can happen on the road. Thanks to Jack, Troy and Sam for all being willing to be a little goofy to make an important point.

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DIY Moped – Is It Worth It?

Q: I am considering putting a small gas motor kit on a mountain bicycle. Does it then become a moped? Does it require a license? Can It be driven on sidewalks? Or bike paths? Or freeways? Any other information on this? I have been looking online and I get conflicting information.

A: That sounds like a fun summer time project, but if you’re planning to ride it on public roads, I hope you haven’t started yet. I don’t think you’re going to like the answer, or answers really, given the number of questions you were able to cram into fifty words. I’ll tackle each question separately, and by the end you should have a good idea of what it’ll take to make your project legal.

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Selfies and Baseball

Here’s the second of the three distracted driving PSAs with the Bellingham Bells. In this one, third base player Troy Viola has some fun taking a selfie during a ball game. He wouldn’t really let a selfie distract him from winning a game, and he doesn’t let it distract him while driving either.

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Motorcycle Safety – Riding for Life

In case you’ve just emerged from a month-long meditation retreat in a mine shaft or returned from research at the south pole, let me be the first to tell you, the weather everyone moves here for has arrived. And what goes hand-in-hand with good weather in Whatcom County? Motorcycles. My personal motorcycle riding experience is (extremely) limited, but in a few short rides it was abundantly clear that riding a motorcycle transcends the usual transportation goal of getting to your destination and is an experience unto itself. But riding a motorcycle also carries a comparatively high risk and, unfortunately, this has been a difficult beginning to summer for the motorcycling community in our county.

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Texting and Baseball

I got the opportunity to work with some Bellingham Bells players on some distracted driving PSAs. We had fun making them (at least I had fun; I think they did too) and the end result makes a great point – you wouldn’t let yourself get distracted in a game, so why would you let it happen when you’re driving and the consequences could be much worse? Here’s the first one, with Sam Swenson.

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Local Motorcycle Safety PSA

This week I got to work with a couple of local motorcycle deputies from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office to put together a PSA on motorcycle safety. They have some great advice for all the riders out there.

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Traffic Law Vs. Safe Driving

Here’s a question that came up during a recent discussion about some of Washington’s traffic laws: Is obeying the law enough to make me a safe driver? If not, what is the standard?

A while back I had a conversation with my brother-in-law, a skilled carpenter. We were discussing building codes, and he said that if you build your house to code, you have a substandard house. His point was that code compliance is the bare minimum you can do in construction. There are building techniques that exceed code requirements that make your home stronger, more weather-tight, and capable of lasting many more years.

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