Category: Road Rules

Q: Why is it that adults and kids all have to wear seat belts, but dogs can roam around in a car? Shouldn’t there be a seat belt law for dogs?

A: The only law I’m aware of that specifically requires a dog to be restrained pertains to animals being transported on the “outside part of any vehicle.” It states that animals must be harnessed or in an enclosure. The law, which dates back to at least 1927, was originally in a group of laws about driving livestock to market (cattle had the right of way), pasturing and camping with livestock along the highway (you had to have enough herders to keep the road available for cars) and how to pass a person riding, leading, or driving an animal in the opposite direction (stop to let them pass, and shut off your engine if it scares the animal.) The law was primarily intended for transporting livestock, but we’ve also applied it to dogs in pickup beds.

Q: Two questions: Is it illegal to have darkened forward windows in a car? Is it illegal to have oversized tires on a pickup truck such that the tires extend wider than the truck body? I see a lot of these situations and I wonder if they are illegal, and if so, why there isn’t more enforcement. Both situations are dangerous for pedestrians; also, the dark windows make coordinating between drivers difficult.

A: Two answers: sometimes and yes. But you actually asked three questions and your third one is the trickiest. So of course, I’ll start with the easy ones. Window tint and oversized tires have something in common – drivers often make those modifications, at least partly, for style. (If you own a pickup with enormous tires and it’s never been off pavement, I’m talking about you.)

Q: Is there a speed at which wearing a seat belt isn’t important because I’m going slow enough to where I won’t get hurt?

A: I’m pretty sure that if I answered this question with an actual number there would be people out there who treat it as a rule: “Oh, I don’t put on my seat belt until I’m going at least 13 mph.” You might think I’m joking, but there’s actual data to (sort of) support the idea. Every year the Washington Traffic Safety Commission conducts a seat belt use observation survey. Yep, it’s just what it sounds like. Observers count how many people wear their seat belts, using enough locations and vehicles to get an accurate representation of seat belt use statewide. According to the most recent survey, 94 percent of vehicle occupants in Washington wear a seatbelt, and it’s been at roughly that level since the early 2000s.

How is this relevant? The survey also tracks seat belt use based on road type. The rate on state routes (with generally higher speed limits) is about 95 percent while the rate on city streets (read slower speed limits) is at about 90 percent. County roads fall in between. It seems that some people are, consciously or not, adjusting their seat belt use to the speed of their driving.

Q: Occasionally I see a larger off-road vehicle cruising through my neighborhood and recently I saw one being driven on State Route 509. It appeared to have a motorcycle sized license plate attached. In and of itself it doesn’t bother me but I noticed that these vehicles have no fenders or any way to stop rocks from being flung back into any vehicles that may be following. Are ORVs legal for street use in Washington?

A: This question might seem like it deserves a simple yes or no, but once we dig in you’ll see that it has more layers than a Dagwood Bumstead sandwich. The laws that allow off-road vehicles, or as they’re called in the law, wheeled all-terrain vehicles, to drive on public roads have changed a few times in recent years, so let’s take a look at the current situation. If you think that sentence just gave away the answer to whether they’re legal or not, you’re only about half right.

Q: When we drive our 45-foot motorhome on the freeway, are we supposed to be going the car speed limit or the truck speed limit?

A: The truck speed limit sign is a little misleading; or if not misleading, at least incomplete. Of course, it’s impossible to put the full RCW up on a street sign so I suppose it’s the best option we’ve got. When you see a speed limit sign that says, “Speed Limit 70, Trucks 60,” the word “trucks” is a stand-in for more than just trucks.

Q: The back of transit buses have a flashing yellow light and a “Please Yield” sign, so I yield for them when they are pulling out of bus stops, but I see that many drivers do not. Is the “Please Yield” a request for drivers to be polite, or is it the law?

A: You don’t see a lot of “please” in the legal code, do you? For the parents reading this, have you used please in a sentence when your child didn’t have the option of refusing? Like, you say, “Please clean your room,” but what you mean is, “You will clean your room, or I’m not driving you to Ben’s birthday party, and there’s going to be a bouncy house there.” You say please because you want your kid to like you, but you still have an expected behavior and a consequence for disregarding it.