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Getting There – An Important Part of Camping

Q: I hope to soon be the owner of a new (to me) travel trailer, and as a first time RVer, would like to make sure I’m safe. What do I need to know before towing a trailer?

A: Washington is the greatest place in the galaxy for camping. Bold statement, I know, especially given the current state of astronomy. Recently astronomers announced that they estimate there are 36 communicating civilizations in our galaxy. But that doesn’t mean any of those civilizations like camping or have built campgrounds, so I think it’s safe to say that Earth has the best camping in the Milky Way, and Washington is the best place on Earth. Ergo, Washington is the best place in the galaxy for camping (at least when the weather’s good).

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Parking Lots – A Place To Practice Kindness

Q: What is proper etiquette when in a parking lot? Are there rules about how to handle other drivers and people walking to and from their cars?

A: With a few exceptions, traffic laws in Washington are written for road users on public highways. They mostly don’t apply to private property like a shopping mall parking lot or the field at your uncle’s house where you learned to drive a tractor. The exceptions include more serious traffic crimes like impaired driving. While most of the rules here apply only to public roadways (and their associated public parking spots) that doesn’t mean we can’t learn something from the law about how to drive in a private parking lot. It’s just that what we take from the Revised Code of Washington will work more like a recommended best practice rather than something you’re legally obligated to do.

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Stop, Don’t Stop

I recently encountered this pair of signs while driving through an unfamiliar area.

Let’s count all the ways this is so wrong:

  1. Conflicting directions: Do I stop? Do I never stop? Is this a quantum physics problem where matter can travel multiple paths simultaneously as long as it’s not being observed (by the police)?
  2. Too many words: The first time I drove through the intersection I actually didn’t have time to read the small print. I was too busy looking for cross-traffic to focus on all that text. All I read was, “Stop – No stopping any time.” I had to go through the intersection a second time to read it all. (And a third time to pull over and get a picture.)
  3. Distracting: Intersections have more crashes than any other part of the road system. Signs should be about safety. If you’re worried about people trying to sell their cars, put that sign somewhere else.
  4. Confusing: Should I run the stop sign if I’m trying to sell my car? What does this sign pairing want me to do? I was driving a rental car at the time so I’m pretty sure I was supposed to just drive straight though (not really.)

It’s rare that we encounter traffic signs this absurd, which is a credit to the traffic engineers who almost always get it right. But not this time.

And I should point out that this wasn’t local (which you probably figured out from the clear blue sky and the high desert terrain.) So don’t be teasing our local traffic engineers about this.

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The 100 Deadliest Days

I generally like to keep this weekly column somewhat light-hearted when possible; this is not one of those weeks. Recently someone emailed me with a request for information about teen drivers. Without even looking at new data I can tell you the basics; young drivers (age 16-25) make up 13 percent of the driving population but are involved in 31 percent of Washington’s fatal crashes. And right now it’s peak season for teen driver crashes.

We’re one month in to what is often referred to as the “100 deadliest days,” the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The summer months get this grim moniker because of the increase in fatal crashes involving teen drivers during this timeframe and, despite decreases in traffic volume (which you’ve probably noticed has recently been picking back up), this summer we have reason to be concerned. Since Memorial Day, eight drivers in the 15 to 19 age range have been involved in fatal crashes in Washington, the most (tying 2018 and 2016) in the last seven years.

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Speeding – Everybody’s Not Doing It

Q: I’ve heard that because of Covid-19 the police aren’t doing traffic enforcement. That seems problematic. Lately there has been less traffic on the roads but I’ve heard about way more people speeding. What’s being done to stop all the speeders?

A: Maybe you’ve read the headlines: traffic volumes are down; vehicle speeds are up, and speeding crashes are nearly a pandemic in themselves. I’ve read them too; like the guy in the Corvette doing 192 mph (yes, that’s not a typo) on Highway 2 last month. You might start to think that most people on the road are speeding. But is that really true?

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Emergency Vehicles and Chinese Sports

Q: I was driving north on a road with two lanes in either direction plus a center turn lane. A fire truck was headed south with emergency lights on. All south bound traffic was yielding to the right of the road, stopping until emergency vehicle had passed, and then continuing on their way south. Suddenly, drivers in both northbound lanes came to a complete stop to wait for the emergency vehicle in the south lane to pass. My question in this scenario: does the northbound traffic have to yield in this manner to southbound emergency vehicles?

A: A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit China. I was working for an education company, so naturally we visited some schools. While on a university campus I recall seeing a dozen or so empty basketball courts, while in an open space right next to the courts at least 50 people, each balancing a ball on a racket, moved in unison following a leader, executing what looked like a mix between tai chi and tennis exercises. I later learned that I had been watching taiji bailong ball, also called roliball. It struck me that if this same campus was in the United States, I probably would have seen the basketball courts full of players, each making their own moves, while the roliball field was most likely empty. If you’re wondering where I’m going with this, stay with me.

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Donuts and Traffic Episode 3 – The Rocker

I was just about to post episode 4 when I realized that episode 3 hadn’t been properly released. Maybe there’s a reason for that. This episode is less traffic safety and more what happens when you’re in a global quarantine so you can’t get a guest (at least, a real guest) for your show.

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In Trouble for the Wrong Thing


Q: I was given a citation for failing to stop at a traffic signal. What happened was I was making a left turn at a four-way intersection; I entered the intersection on green and waited for a safe time to turn. The light turned yellow and I turned while the light was yellow. The officer says I ran the stop light claiming it was red. Can I fight this in court and how is this likely to turn out?

A: In the 2016 short film Alibi, Dalton Stone is accused of committing a murder. He’s innocent of that crime, but here’s the problem: His alibi would include confessing that he was having an affair with his brother’s wife. Basically, he got in trouble for the wrong thing. He’s not guilty of what he’s arrested for, but that doesn’t make him innocent.

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Buses, Merging and Kindness

Q: I know transit buses have a right-of-way when entering traffic from a bus stop. They have a special yield blinker light that they illuminate separate from the left turn signal. I saw a driver use the yield blinker when entering the freeway. Do I have to yield to a bus merging onto the freeway? Legally is the question. I always try to not be a danger/nuisance when large, slow vehicles are trying to deliver children, goods and other things I can’t imagine not having in my life.

A:  Just as a matter of survival, it’s always wise to yield to buses. Maybe it’s not always the law, but it is the rule of lug nuts. If you’re not familiar with that rule, it states that in any given collision between two vehicles, the one with the most lug nuts wins. Using the word “wins” in the context of collisions is admittedly crude, but you get my point. For anyone concerned with their own well-being, the rule of lug nuts should be enough. I appreciate that you went beyond that and also have concern for the people (and goods) onboard big vehicles.

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