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Traffic School and Your (Not-So-Good) Driving Record

Q. Will a driving course help eliminate a poor driving record in Washington?

A: Yes, but probably not in the way that you’re hoping for. Generally, once you already have a poor driving record it’s too late for a driving course to directly impact your record. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea. Now, if you’ve done something in the last fifteen days that will result in a future damaged driving record, you might have some options, which I’ll get to in a bit.

We often have a mindset that more experience makes you better. But that’s not always true. When I was a kid, I took a year of piano lessons, and I remember learning to play exactly one song. My lessons coincided with the release of Star Wars, and the only thing I wanted out of piano lessons was to play the Star Wars theme song. In the years that followed I continued to plink away at that one song, but didn’t learn another one.

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Skip The Scary Public Service Announcements

Q: If you want to stop driving drunk, or speeding, or texting and driving, or not wearing a seatbelt, why doesn’t the government make more videos like what I watched in driver’s ed? You know, the ones with the graphic car crashes. That’ll get their attention.

A: I’ve heard variations on this question from plenty of people, and while the motivation to improve driving behavior is commendable, the approach is misguided. You might be asking yourself, “But if the approach is misguided, then why did driver’s ed classes use them and why has the government made so many traffic safety commercials with car crashes?” The short answer is, we were wrong.

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Right-Of-Way And The Right Thing To Do

Q: At an intersection, where the flow of traffic in question does not have a stop sign, and there are several cars flowing through it, does a pedestrian have the right to step off the curb to cross as long as it does not cause an “immediate” hazard? Who has the right-of-way?

 A: I’ll get to the actual answer in a moment, but I want to lead with this: Don’t hit the pedestrian. Yep, you already knew that, I know. My point here is that there is the right-of-way, and then there’s the right thing to do.

We often talk about who has the right-of-way, but that’s really a distortion of the language in our laws. The law doesn’t define who has the right-of-way; it states who must yield the right-of-way. Maybe that sounds like two different ways of saying the same thing, but there is a difference. Think of right-of-way as something floating out there in the universe that you can never take for yourself, but you’re free to give to someone else.  Okay, now it sounds like I’m writing a new age self-help book. But the point still stands.

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Front License Plates: Are They Necessary?

Q: Has the Washington State law changed about vehicles displaying front license plates? In our area I have noticed a substantial number of vehicles without front plates. Some will have the plate lying on the dashboard and many seem to be newer, expensive models. Has the law changed or is it simply not being enforced?

A: Have you ever committed a minor traffic violation, like maybe you forgot to signal when you made a right turn, and then realized that there was a police officer right behind you? And maybe, if you’re lucky, you experienced this: the red and blue lights come on behind you, but when you pull over the patrol car zooms past. If so, you just got a glimpse of one enforcement demand taking priority over another.

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Burnouts – Which Law(s) Do They Break?

Q: I’ve seen plenty of long, black tire marks out on county roads that look intentional. Once COVID struck and the freeways were empty I even saw a 360 degree burnout on the freeway. That can’t be legal, but what law is it breaking?

A: Let me tell you about Cars and Coffee. The title is so on the nose it hardly needs explanation, but I will anyway. These are events in which automotive enthusiasts drive their show-worthy cars to a parking lot where they drink coffee, socialize and admire each others’ cars. In the few that I’ve attended (as a visitor, not a show car owner) they’ve been fun, casual events with some interesting cars.

However, and you knew there was a however, despite the “no burnouts” rule at every Cars and Coffee event, when it’s over and time to leave, there is sometimes a guy (it’s pretty much always a guy) that does it anyway. And as often happens when a car has more power than the driver has skill, some burnouts turn into crashes.  When that happens, you’ll have a swarm of young men all with phone in hand, sprinting toward the car to capture the failure in close-up so they can put it on the internet. It’s like live-streaming karma.

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Getting Around a Neighborhood Traffic Calming Circle

Q: There is a neighborhood I drive through that has something I’d describe as little roundabouts, much smaller than a regular roundabout, in several intersections. It’s like they took a normal intersection, put a concrete circle in the middle of it and filled it with plants. Do I have to go around the circle to make a left turn, or can I just turn left in front of the circle? It’s such a tight turning radius if I go around the circle in my truck.

A: The intersection you just described goes by a few different names. The Washington Department of Transportation calls them Neighborhood Traffic Calming Circles, so we’ll go with that, but I’ll shorten it to NTCC because the full name is a mouthful. (Can you have a mouthful when your words are in print?)

If you had a time machine and you traveled back to Seattle at least ten years ago, then you could turn left in front of a NTCC. Of course, if you had a time machine, I think you’d find a better use for it than turning left in front of traffic circles. In a moment I’ll explain why it used to be allowed in Seattle, and why it’s not now.

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Age and Driving – Knowing When It’s Time To Stop

Q: My parents are getting older, and I’m wondering, how do I know when it’s time for them to stop driving?

A: If you’re a fan of the Guinness Book of World Records, you might have heard of Johanna Quaas, the world’s oldest gymnast. She turned 95 this year and still has a parallel bar routine that would make some of the show-offs on muscle beach reevaluate their life goals.

I mention Johanna to make the point that age itself isn’t the limiting factor in driving, or any other life activity. It’s all the things that go along with age. That might sound like two ways of saying the same thing, but I don’t think so.

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Distractions from Dogs

Q: Distracted driving is easy to pin on phone usage, but what about little dogs on drivers’ laps? I’ve seen so many situations that can be very dangerous due to dogs between the driver and the steering wheel or hanging out the driver’s window.

A: First the good news: At any given moment, most drivers (about 93 percent in Washington) are not distracted. Right now you’re saying, “Wait a second, there’s no way that’s true.” I know you’re saying that because that, or some variation of it, is what people usually say to me when I share that data.

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Saving Pedestrians With Your Headlights

Q: I’m concerned about pedestrians getting killed on the road. I think the lack of use of high beam lights is likely the cause of the drivers not seeing the pedestrians. I have a problem for you to solve. How far do typical low beam lights light the road ahead and how long does it take the average driver to stop their car traveling at 50 mph? Could these lives have been spared had the drivers just used their high beam lights?

A: Having just experienced the darkest day of the year (we always call it the shortest day, but it’s still 24 hours long so that’s not really accurate is it?) it seems appropriate to talk about headlights. With over 15 hours of darkness in every day this week, there’s a good chance that some of your driving will be in the dark.

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