Author: DOUG DAHL

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DUI – It’s Not Just Booze Anymore

What kind of behavior do you visualize when you hear the terms ‘impaired driving’ or DUI? If your mind translated the word ‘impaired’ to the word ‘drunk’ or DUI turned into ‘driving under the influence of alcohol’ that would be understandable, but no longer entirely accurate. Impaired driving is changing, or more accurately, has already changed in Washington.

Impaired driving is the leading contributing factor in Washington fatal crashes, and has been for many years, but the dominant form of impairment is no longer just alcohol. Of the 565 traffic fatalities in Washington in 2017,266 involved an impaired driver. Of those 266 drivers, 181 of them had been drinking alcohol and 200 of them were impaired by drugs. That adds up to a lot more than 266, and that overlap is where we encounter poly-drug impairment;using two or more impairing substances at the same time. You can probably guess the most frequently combined substances: alcohol and cannabis. By 2016 poly-drug drivers involved in fatal crashes were more than twice the number of alcohol-only drivers and more than five times the number of cannabis-only drivers.

Continue reading “DUI – It’s Not Just Booze Anymore”
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Opening Your Car Door? There’s A Law For That

Q: I was driving down Holly Street when someone in a parked car opened their car door into the lane I was driving in. Fortunately there was no one in the lane next to me and I swerved to avoid hitting the door. If I had hit the door who would have been at fault?

A: Would you believe there is a law written specifically for this exact scenario? Not only that, it’s also short and easy to understand. I don’t think I’ve ever said that about traffic law in this column. Here’s what the Revised Code of Washington says about opening car doors: “No person shall open the door of a motor vehicle on the side adjacent to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle adjacent to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.” Continue reading “Opening Your Car Door? There’s A Law For That”

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Myths About Driving High

The holidays are traditionally a time to get together and celebrate. And if you’re celebrating with alcohol or cannabis, it’s important to have a plan to avoid driving impaired. Vivian McPeak, the director of HempFest, and Darrin Grondel, the Director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, sat down together to talk about some cannabis myths and the risks of driving high.  

Along with their reminder, extra DUI patrols are scheduled for the holidays; drivers that choose to ignore the advice from Vivian and Darrin could be faced with arrest for impaired driving as part of their holiday memories.

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Disturbed By Trucks

Q: I drove back last evening from Seattle to Bellingham and I was disturbed by the oversized, raised pickups that were speeding in the left lane, some with trailers behind them. I’ve also seen tandem dump trucks tailgating on I-5. What is the policy on speed enforcement of such vehicles as the oversized pickups and those with trailers? Are there statistics on such vehicles and collision rates?

A: On the surface this looks like a question about speeding trucks, but there are a lot of sub-topics crammed into those few sentences; modified vehicles, trailers, commercial trucks, tailgating, enforcement policies, and collision data. I’ll see if I can tackle all of that in the next few paragraphs. Since the questions were prompted by a trip on I-5, I thought it would be helpful to talk with a Washington State Trooper about their enforcement practices. Much of what you read here is informed by that conversation. Continue reading “Disturbed By Trucks”

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Traffic Nerd Goes To The Movies – Game Night

What if there was a movie reviewer that only cared about the traffic safety parts of the show? Yep, you’d get “Traffic Nerd Goes To The Movies.” This is the first of what will hopefully become a semi-regular feature at TheWiseDive.com. In this episode we consider the importance of seatbelts and the use of sports cars as a compensation tool.

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You Can’t Change Lanes in an Intersection, Or Can You?

Q: I have a question about the rule about changing lanes when going through an intersection. I see a lot of drivers change lanes when making a right or left turn going through an intersection. Is that legal?

A: At a minimum, changing lanes while turning through an intersection is sloppy driving. It might also be lazy driving; instead of making the effort to complete two separate maneuvers (driving through the intersection and then changing lanes) the driver is rolling it all into one. Some might call that efficient, but I stand by my word choice from the beginning of the previous sentence. I’m willing to state that it’s unpredictable as well. We expect cars to stay in their lanes as they drive through intersections. Why? Because that’s what we’ve been taught, which is why I was confident that I could find support from the Revised Code of Washington to show that it’s also against the law. Turns out, that’s tougher than it sounds. I’ll get to that in a bit. Continue reading “You Can’t Change Lanes in an Intersection, Or Can You?”

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Free Right on a Red Light Isn’t Really Free

Q: In other states in which I have lived, cars are required to come to a complete stop before turning right on a red light. However, here so many cars do not stop; I was wondering if the law is different here. I did a very unscientific survey at an intersection I regularly crossed and found about half of the cars did not stop. Police did better, with only one-third that didn’t. One group I must compliment is city buses; I never saw one not stop. The one semi that I saw at the intersection did not stop.

A: Most drivers are probably familiar with the expression, ‘free right on red.’ However, if you were to ask a room full of economists, I’m pretty sure they’ll tell you that nothing is free. I’ll get to one of the costs of the ‘free’ right on red in a moment, but first let’s review the law. Continue reading “Free Right on a Red Light Isn’t Really Free”

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Traffic Enforcement: Do We Have Enough?

I’ve received a number of questions focused on various traffic violations that end with a similar refrain: Why don’t the police do more enforcement of (fill in the blank)? Collectively all these questions hint at the larger question: Are we doing enough traffic enforcement in our community? Instead of answering that question with a yes or a no, I’ve done some research on how much enforcement is happening in our county. I’ll give you the numbers and let you reach your own conclusion. Continue reading “Traffic Enforcement: Do We Have Enough?”

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World Day of Remembrance 2018

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR) is commemorated to remember the many people killed and injured on our roads, together with their families, friends and many others who are also affected.  It is also a day on which we thank the emergency services and reflect on the tremendous burden and cost of this daily continuing disaster to families and communities, and on ways to halt it. This year’s theme is “Roads Have Stories.” Continue reading “World Day of Remembrance 2018”

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Just Put Them at 9 And 3

Q: I was taught to keep my hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel, but I’ve heard that if your car has airbags you should keep your hands at 8 and 4. Is that right? It feels weird.

A: Allow me to split the difference and recommend 9 and 3. Back before airbags, 10 and 2 was the standard hand position on a steering wheel. But once car manufacturers started installing explosive devices in the steering wheels we realized that our hand position needed to change. (At the risk of stating the obvious, steering grip position is generally described by visualizing the steering wheel like the face of a clock. Hand position corresponds to the numbers on the clock’s face.) Continue reading “Just Put Them at 9 And 3”