Author: DOUG DAHL

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Rocks and Rules (and a bad pun in the title)

Q: I have lived in Bellingham for nine years and have received five rock chips on my windshield. Before I moved here I never had a rock chip. Not coincidentally I see many uncovered gravel trucks on Sunset Drive and I-5, many of them with unused covers. What is the law regarding this and does the State Patrol really enforce this law? Also, if I know a rock came from a particular truck, is there anything I can do?

A: The two thousand-year-old Roman philosopher Seneca is attributed to having said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” From the opposite perspective, bad luck is what happens when lack of preparation meets opportunity. In your case, someone else’s lack of preparation in properly securing their load resulted in your bad luck, also known as, “In the wrong place at the wrong time.” The problem with “in the wrong place at the wrong time” is that we’re often not in control of the situation; we’re victim to someone else’s mistake and end up taking five rocks to the windshield in nine years (which is rather unlucky; sorry about that.)

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Trucker Bling or Safety Concern?

Q: I’ve seen quite a few semi trucks with metal spikes sticking off their lug nuts. That seems incredibly dangerous. I’ve seen it so often that I’m assuming it must be legal. But how could it be?

A: I could probably write an entire column that consists exclusively of bullet listing all the equipment violations commonly seen on the road. I recall a deputy telling me that he once had to essentially quit noticing all the equipment violations of cars that he was sharing the road with, because he would have never made it home from work if he kept making traffic stops.

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The Rudest Insult in Traffic

Q: What exactly is jaywalking? Is it just crossing the street where there isn’t a sidewalk?

A: A little over one hundred years ago, the New York Times decried the use of term jaywalker as, “highly opprobrious” and “a truly shocking name.” I had to look up opprobrious, and if your vocabulary doesn’t include that word either, here are some synonyms: derogatory, insulting and scandalous. Who knew calling someone a jaywalker could be so offensive? Back in 1910, calling someone a jay was essentially saying they were a hillbilly that didn’t belong in the city. It was a semi-vulgar classist insult. But how did it become associated with traffic?

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Who Doesn’t Buckle Up?

Instead of a reader asking me a question, this week I have a question for you: Do you know anyone that’s received a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt? It’s entirely possible that you don’t. Washington ranks in the top five states for seatbelt use, with close to 95 percent of vehicle occupants wearing a seatbelt. The four states ahead of us are mostly neighbors; Oregon, California, Hawaii (sort of a neighbor), and Georgia, the geographic outlier. The state with the lowest rate of seatbelt use? New Hampshire, at about 68 percent. Its state motto is, “Live free or die.” I’m pretty sure General John Stark was not thinking about seatbelts when he wrote that in 1809, but that’s the reason many New Hampshirites (is that what you call them?) give for why they don’t want a seatbelt law.

How do we know the percentage of seatbelt users in each state? Because there are people watching you drive. Creepy? It’s not as bad as it sounds. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) conducts annual seatbelt observations using trained observers to watch for seatbelt use at pre-identified locations around the state. If you want all the details about this spying (it’s not really spying) you can read the full report at the WTSC website.

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A Seatbelt PSA That’s So Bad It’s Almost Good

Does anyone remember The 5th Dimension? They had some big hits in the 60s and 70s (Up, Up and Away, Aquarius). By the 80s they were playing the nostalgia circuit, so maybe they needed some cash when the opportunity to do a traffic safety PSA came up. I’m guessing they’re not too proud of their work here, because it doesn’t show up in any band bio or discography; not even on Wikipedia. If nothing else, this video certain captures everything wrong with the 80s, at least when it comes to fashion. Oh, and what’s up with the eye patch guy? Enjoy.

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The Idaho Stop – It’s Not Really Stopping

Q: Are you familiar with the Idaho Stop? It’s the law, in Idaho of course, that lets cyclists treat a stop sign like a yield sign. What do you think of that? It seems like there would be more crashes. Is it more dangerous than making cyclists stop?

A: Since 1982 Idaho has allowed cyclists to roll through stop signs after yielding to other traffic, and for over three decades it was just this odd little rule in one smallish state. That law became known as the Idaho Stop because, well, you could only legally do it in Idaho. Why are we talking about an Idaho law in a column on Washington traffic laws? First of all, Idaho is our neighbor, and also, the law is spreading. Delaware legalized the Idaho Stop in 2017, but called it the Delaware Stop. Last month Arkansas adopted the law; no word yet on whether they’re calling it the Arkansas Stop. Some cities and counties in Colorado allow it, and several other states in recent years have considered but not yet enacted the law.

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Mixed Signals – Who Should Yield?

Q: I have a question regarding the traffic rules of a particular intersection in Bellingham. The intersection of Alabama and Woburn has a right turn lane with a yield sign (for drivers traveling south on Woburn towards Alabama). My question is, if the light is green for Woburn traffic going both directions, does the northbound Woburn traffic making a left-hand turn onto Alabama yield to the southbound traffic making a right-hand turn on Alabama or is it the other way around? A wager of one coffee is riding on the outcome of your answer, so we’re eager to learn the actual rule here.

A: I don’t often tackle a question that applies to a single location, but in this case the intersection at Alabama and Woburn makes a great stand-in for the problem of apparently conflicting traffic control devices. Plus, I always like to weigh in on a wager. In the case of this intersection (and a few others I’ve driven through in the region) we have the bulk of the intersection controlled by traffic lights, and one small right turn lane controlled by a yield sign.

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Side Streets Vs. Interstate: Which is Safer?

Q: I believe that studies show after changing an intersection to a roundabout, there will be more crashes in the roundabout than an intersection but the crashes will be less serious in the roundabout. Could there be a similar phenomena concerning side roads and expressways? For example, if I travel from Fairhaven to the airport, would I be more apt to have a collision if I took side roads than if I took I-5, but if I had a crash on a side road, would it probably be less severe than if I had one on the expressway? 

A: You’re 83 percent correct about the studies on roundabouts and collisions (and I just made up that percentage). But the following percentages were determined by actual researchers: A national study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that roundabouts decrease fatal crashes by 90 percent, injury crashes by 75 percent, pedestrian collisions by 40 percent, and overall crashes by 37 percent. However, those studies focused primarily on single lane roundabouts.

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Four-Way Frenzy or Simple Solution?

Q: Is it legal to use the center turn lane as an on-ramp to merge into traffic?

A: Yes, it is. I’ll get to the legal reference in a moment, but first let’s think about what that means. Drivers traveling in both directions on a roadway can legally use the center turn lane to both leave and enter that road. And the only thing that stops four different drivers from using all four of those approaches at the same time is their observational skills and understanding of the law. That sounds like a recipe for disaster, doesn’t it?

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DIY Distracted Driving Education

It’s not unusual when driving through a city to see a person near an intersection holding a cardboard sign. But it’s pretty unusual for that sign to have a traffic safety message. That’s exactly what I saw today. And since we’re in the midst of distracted driving emphasis patrols, with law enforcement across the state focusing on drivers paying more attention to their phones, food, faces or other distractions rather than the task of driving, the timing couldn’t be better. When I told him I was a fan of his message the sign-holder agreed to a photo. Here’s to proving that anyone with a little motivation can help spread the message of safe driving.