Road Rules – Page 30 – The Wise Drive

August 4, 2019July 18, 2024

Cycling on the Freeway

Q: I thought it was legal to ride my bike on the freeway, but I don’t ever see people doing it. Can I ride on the freeway, and if I can, is there some reason nobody does it?

A: Back when I was 15, there was a girl I liked that lived about 15 miles away from me. Not having a driver license, I hoped on my bike and rode to her house on a route that included a five mile stretch of I-5. A few months later I got my driver license, and that was the last time I rode my bike on the freeway. Until now. To properly answer this question I had to do some research, so I grabbed my bike for a round trip between Blaine and Bellingham on I-5. How’s that for commitment to your questions?

July 28, 2019July 18, 2024

Speed Limits in Construction Zones

Q: How slow should one drive while traveling in road construction areas (marked with orange signs, cones, and flags) if there isn’t a construction zone speed limit posted?

A: In Washington it seems like the four seasons are fall, winter, spring, and road construction. Last week I was nearly landlocked by all the construction projects happening between me and where I was trying to go. I’m not complaining; these projects needed to happen. It’s just that when reliably dry weather only lasts for a few months, lots of road construction projects get crammed into a short amount of time. With so many road projects in the works, it’s almost inevitable that we’ll encounter them in our routine driving.

July 21, 2019July 18, 2024

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.

July 14, 2019July 18, 2024

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.

July 7, 2019July 18, 2024

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.

June 30, 2019July 18, 2024

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.

June 16, 2019July 18, 2024

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.

June 9, 2019July 18, 2024

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.

June 2, 2019July 18, 2024

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.)

May 26, 2019July 18, 2024

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.