Month: July 2016

Q: Would you please address the fact that politeness should not trump correct driving rules? I appreciate that people in Bellingham are usually so polite on the roads, but this can also drive me crazy at times. There are so many times that the other driver on the road has the right of way, but stops and tries to get me to move first by waving me on.

A: I’m all for polite and courteous drivers. The last thing we need on the road are drivers that take every perceived error from other motorists as a personal insult and then react as if defending five generations of their family’s honor. That being said, the most polite thing a driver can do is follow the rules of the road. Think of traffic rules not just as a law put in place by the government, but as a shared set of values that drivers rely on to understand each other. Some drivers, intending to be polite, violate these shared values with “the wave”. Continue reading “What To Do About “The Wave””

Q: Can you turn left from a two way street onto one way street at a red light after stopping?

A: As strange as it feels, yes you can. There are a few scenarios provided in state law that permit a driver to proceed after stopping for a red light, even while the light remains red. Most of us are familiar with the “free right”, a term not used in the law, but nearly universally understood to mean making a right turn at a red traffic light, after stopping for the light and waiting for an opening in the cross traffic. A free right is usually allowed when turning right onto a two-way street, or when turning right onto a one-way street that is carrying traffic in the direction of the right turn (obviously). There are some intersections that prohibit a right turn on a red light. These intersections have signs that read, appropriately, “NO TURN ON RED”. With the new bike boxes on Bellingham streets, we’re seeing a few more intersections in our community that don’t allow right turns on red lights. Continue reading “Left Turns and One Way Streets”