Tag: bicycle

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A School Bus Driver’s Perspective

Summer in Washington is like a good nap; amazing while it’s happening but never long enough. One of the first signs that summer is wrapping up? The school buses that are on the roads starting this week. We’ve covered the topic of school buses before (and you can find those articles at TheWiseDrive.com) so I’m not going to repeat myself here. Instead, let’s hear from an actual school bus driver. I had the privilege of talking with a local bus driver and asked him about some of the things he sees, both good and not so good, as he’s driving kids to and from school. What follows are some of my questions (in italics), followed by a loose paraphrase of his accumulated bus-driving wisdom.

Continue reading “A School Bus Driver’s Perspective”

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Leave Room For Bikes

Q: Is it legal to cross the centerline while passing a cyclist in a no-passing zone (assuming there are no oncoming cars)?

A: Let’s start this one out by looking at the no-passing zone law. The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) states that “no driver may at any time drive on the left side of the roadway within the no-passing zone.” That would seem to answer the question. But it’ never that simple, is it? The next paragraph says that this section doesn’t apply under conditions found in RCW 46.61.100(1)(b). If you’re not familiar with finding things in the RCW, don’t be intimidated by that jumble of numbers, letters and punctuation. It’s just a way of organizing all the chapters and sections. Continue reading “Leave Room For Bikes”

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Cyclists and “The Wave”

Q: I ride a bicycle and drive a car. While riding my bike in town, I confront the following situation on a regular basis: I am riding on a side street, come to an intersection, and stop at the stop sign. A well-intentioned driver on the main road will come to a stop, even though he is not facing a stop sign, and motion me to cross, even though I should wait until traffic has passed. Usually I cross, providing traffic from other directions has also stopped. I would like all motorists and bicyclists to follow the law; i.e. if the car has the right-of-way, then it should go. What is the appropriate way for me to handle this situation?

A: Like you, I both ride a bike and drive a car. Not at the same time, obviously. And like you, I’ve been in a similar situation – getting the “go ahead” wave from a driver who has stopped for me, even though I’m the one with the stop sign. I know people even experience it occasionally when driving a car. Continue reading “Cyclists and “The Wave””

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The Cost of Dangerous Driving in Whatcom County

Q: It seems like there have been a lot more serious crashes than normal lately. Is my perception accurate or have crashes just been making the news more often?

A: Unfortunately, your perception is disturbingly accurate. Over the past ten years, we’ve averaged about 15 lives lost due to traffic crashes. In 2015 and 2016, 11 and 12 people died in crashes, respectively.  So far in 2017, 20 people have been killed in traffic crashes in Whatcom County. That’s approaching our worst record in over a decade, 21 deaths, which occurred in 2008. And there are still two more months left in the year. These aren’t just numbers. Each data point is a tragedy for the family and friends of the person who died. Continue reading “The Cost of Dangerous Driving in Whatcom County”

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Too Blinky, Too Bright

Q: What kind of lighting is required to ride my bike at night? Are strobe lights legal?

A: At the minimum, the law requires a white headlight on the front of the bike, visible from at least 500 feet, and a red reflector on the back, visible from at least 600 feet. But this is America, and if a little is good, then more is better, right? Not always. There seems to be an arms race for the brightest headlights on both cars and bicycles, and the bikes might be winning. Continue reading “Too Blinky, Too Bright”

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Travel With Care – A Local Traffic Safety Project

This week’s column is less of a question and more of a plea: Can’t we all just get along on our roads? I’ve received questions from drivers who are angry about cyclist and pedestrian behavior, pedestrians who are terrified of drivers and nervous about cyclists, and cyclists who fear for their lives because of drivers.

Many of you have sent questions asking about why a driver or cyclist or pedestrian would do ____. (Fill in the blank with the dumb action of your choice.) I’ll continue to work through the questions, but for today I’d like to address a common question that often follows the first question: What are we going to do about it? Continue reading “Travel With Care – A Local Traffic Safety Project”

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Different Symbols – Same Meaning

Q: In downtown Bellingham at certain corners of sidewalks there is one of two symbols. The first is a circle in green with a person standing next to a bicycle. The other is a circle in red with a line through the circle showing a person on a bicycle. What do these mean? Does the green one mean that a bicyclist is allowed to ride on the sidewalk, but must get off at the corners? Does the red one mean no bicycling on the sidewalk whatsoever? They are confusing signs since the two seem to be saying two different things; Please explain. Thanks.

A: You’d expect that if you saw two different signs, each of them would have a different meaning. That’s probably where the confusion lies. These two signs each take a different approach to explaining the same law. If we start by examining the law, both the signs should make more sense. Continue reading “Different Symbols – Same Meaning”

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The A-Pillar Problem

Q: I recently had a close call with a pedestrian. I looked both ways before pulling into the intersection, but he seemed to appear out of nowhere, right in front of my car. How is that possible?

A: Back when I went through driver’s ed . . .  I know this sounds like a setup for a story where I teach the next generation about life by telling them about walking to school up hill both ways barefoot in the snow, but its’ not; stay with me. Back when I went through driver’s ed we were taught about blind spots. We know blind spots are the areas just behind the driver, on either side of the car, where a car, bike or pedestrian could be invisible due to a poorly adjusted mirror and a failure of a driver to turn and look. Continue reading “The A-Pillar Problem”

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Electric vs. Gas Powered Bicycles

Q: What are the laws on driving a motorized or electric assist bike on the road? Do you need to have a license and insurance?

A: There are actually several different answers, depending on the power source (gas or electric) and the size of the motor. The part about electric assist bikes is the easiest to answer, so let’s start there and work our way up to gas powered bikes. Continue reading “Electric vs. Gas Powered Bicycles”