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Yes, You Need A Driver License

Q: Federal law is the highest law, am I correct? And federal law states it is my God-given right as man to have the freedom of travel in pursuit of happiness without being governed , harassed, taxed or held from freedom of movement. It also states that as long as I’m traveling in my own vehicle that I own, and I’m not making cash profit from it, then a state-issued license is just a requirement made by the state police. It’s not required as long as I’m not harming anyone or committing a crime.

A: Okay . . . Where to start? I’ll begin by saying that I sympathize for any officer that stops this driver and has to endure the ensuing encounter. Admittedly, this question is an outlier, but over the last three years of writing this column I’ve received enough of these kinds of questions to realize that there is a much bigger issue here: When someone misunderstands the law it can have real-life consequences.

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You’re Probably Guilty Of Littering

Q: Is it legal to throw an apple core out my car window while I’m driving? I’ve always assumed (and was told growing up) that it’s legal because an apple core is a biodegradable food scrap.

A: Can I turn a question about littering into a traffic safety issue? Yes, I can. We all know that littering is wrong, and most of us never do it. At least you probably think you don’t litter. You can probably guess where this is going. Before I accuse anyone of anything, I need to make a confession. On multiple occasions I’ve rolled down my window and thrown an apple core into the ditch on the side of the road. There. I said it. I feel better already.

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Do You Really Always Need Insurance?

Q: Can a person receive a ticket for driving without insurance on private property?

A: The short answer: Yes. If you had asked, “Can a person receive a ticket on private property?” the answer would have been much longer. And now for the longer answer: Most traffic violations apply when a driver is on a public roadway, but some traffic laws apply statewide. I’ll explain how to identify which rules belong just to the road and which ones are anywhere in the state.

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Learning How To Walk

Q: Washington law states that when sidewalks are not provided, pedestrians shall walk only on the left side of the roadway or its shoulder facing traffic and upon meeting an oncoming vehicle shall move clear of the roadway. Why is this law seldom enforced or ever publicized?

A: Walking along the road with your back toward traffic is, as you clearly quoted from the law, illegal. And it’s a bad idea. If you’re sharing the road with 4000 pound projectiles, I’d think you’d want to see them coming. But is it the worst idea? It seems like we have a good opportunity here to investigate the greatest safety risks to pedestrians. Let’s work through the list of common factors in pedestrian fatal crashes. (Data is from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration unless noted otherwise.)

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Blocking the Crosswalk

Q: At an intersection, after I’ve stopped at the stop line, is it okay to pull forward for visibility if I end up blocking the crosswalk? If this is legal, do pedestrians have to wait until I leave the crosswalk to cross? When I did this someone walked out in front of me well outside the crosswalk.

A: This week we might get a little law-heavy trying to answer this question. That’s because there isn’t one specific law that gives us the complete answer. Instead I’m relying on four separate traffic laws (along with a reference from the Washington Driver Guide) to get the full picture. Some, or maybe all, of these laws are familiar on their own, but mixing together this legal cocktail is what makes it work.

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What’s The Big Honking Deal?

Q: When is it legal to use your horn? Or maybe I should ask, when is it not legal to use your horn? Some drivers use their horn for a lot of things that aren’t emergencies.

A: There’s a debate about whether the Road Runner from Looney Tunes says “beep beep” or “meep meep.” In the few minutes of research I did on the topic, I concluded that in the script the Road Runner was supposed to read it was “beep beep”, but he actually said, “meep meep.” Either way, what he was doing was technically a violation of the law. At least in Washington.

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Practice How To Not Skid

Q: When your car starts to skid, do you turn in the direction of the back of the car while maintaining constant pressure on the accelerator? Or let off the accelerator?

A: Reading a column on how to get out of a skid is probably about as useful as watching a documentary on how to swim; after you watch it you might be able to articulate the mechanics, but if your boat starts to sink you’ll wish you spent some practice time in the pool. That’s not to say you shouldn’t read about how to get out of a skid. It’s just that believing you know how because you can describe it is a lot different than having the muscle memory to execute it in an unexpected and high-stress situation.

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The Safest Time To Drive

Q: As seniors we avoid rush hour driving whether it’s early morning or after four in the afternoon. We rarely drive at night. We believe we are safer on the road mid-day nine to three. Is our assessment and decision based on reality as far as safety and crashes?

A: When it comes to driving, getting older generally works against you. However, this question demonstrates one area where that’s not true: Wisdom. When I was sixteen I don’t ever remember wondering about the safest time to drive. As we get older (and hopefully smarter) we start asking questions like this one. So let’s begin the quest to find the safest time to drive.

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DUI – It’s Not Just Booze Anymore

What kind of behavior do you visualize when you hear the terms ‘impaired driving’ or DUI? If your mind translated the word ‘impaired’ to the word ‘drunk’ or DUI turned into ‘driving under the influence of alcohol’ that would be understandable, but no longer entirely accurate. Impaired driving is changing, or more accurately, has already changed in Washington.

Impaired driving is the leading contributing factor in Washington fatal crashes, and has been for many years, but the dominant form of impairment is no longer just alcohol. Of the 565 traffic fatalities in Washington in 2017,266 involved an impaired driver. Of those 266 drivers, 181 of them had been drinking alcohol and 200 of them were impaired by drugs. That adds up to a lot more than 266, and that overlap is where we encounter poly-drug impairment;using two or more impairing substances at the same time. You can probably guess the most frequently combined substances: alcohol and cannabis. By 2016 poly-drug drivers involved in fatal crashes were more than twice the number of alcohol-only drivers and more than five times the number of cannabis-only drivers.

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