Month: April 2020

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Too Much of a Good Thing

Q: What’s up with the cars that have their tires tilted in on top and sticking out on the bottom? Is that supposed to help with performance somehow?

A:  You know that expression, “If a little is good, then more is better?” This is not one of those situations. The folks who do vehicle alignments would call what you’ve described excessive negative camber. Camber, along with caster and toe, make up the three adjustments to your vehicle’s alignment. Each of them contributes to your car’s safety (or takes away from it if adjusted wrong.) Let’s take a look at what they all do.

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Driving in a Golf Cart Zone

Q: I live in Birch Bay, and we have a mix of fast drivers trying to get to work and slow golf carts in no hurry at all on the same road. How do you drive in a golf cart zone?

A: One bite at a time. No, wait. That’s the punch line to a different joke. But I feel like there should be a punch line to your question. Something about drivers or putters, maybe. Rather than try to think up what would inevitably be a lousy joke, I’ll explain the laws around golf carts on public roads. From there I think we can figure out how to drive in a golf cart zone.

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More Than Trains on the Track

Q: I was on a bike ride with friends along a route that included a railroad crossing. My friend, who has hearing aids, approached the railroad crossing, slowed down, and was almost in the crossing. He did not hear or see a truck coming along the rails. The driver sounded his horn, did not slow down, and went through the crossing. My friend stopped and no accident occurred. First of all, my friend should have looked both ways along the railway line before starting to cross. But also, he crosses at this place daily and knows a train is coming because there is a ringing bell, the boom gate is lowered and the train sounds its horn. Shouldn’t maintenance trucks adhere to these same standards?

A: That seems like a reasonable expectation but, in fact, the converted trucks that drive on the rails (called hi-rail vehicles) are intentionally designed not to trigger the crossing signals. We’ll get to that in a bit, but first let’s talk about the vehicle more commonly found on the tracks: trains.

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Thank You – An Attentive Driving Message

Across Washington fatalities from distracted driving are down. In 2019 there were 33 fewer distracted driving deaths in our state compared to 2016, the year before our new distracted driving law took effect. Drivers are paying more attention to the road, and it’s making a difference, so thank you.

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Driving Less, Driving Better

Q: Does the governor’s “stay at home” order allow driving places in order to hike, ski, walk, or bike? My understanding is that this is forbidden–driving is allowed for essential activities, while walking and biking are encouraged, but only close to home. Lots of people are convinced of the opposite–that the governor’s order allows driving without limits to allow recreational pursuits. Any degree of clarity would be welcome. And if you’ve got a direct line to the governor, maybe suggest that he or his staff clarify loudly and publicly.

A: You’re making this difficult for me. My go-to resource for traffic questions is the Revised Code of Washington, but that isn’t going help me here. And I don’t have a direct line to the governor, although that would be pretty cool. It’s probably for the best though. I’d probably bug him with all my questions and get it taken away from me anyway. And this question is certainly out of my area of expertise, or even general knowledge, but I’m curious too so let’s see if we can figure this out.

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Donuts and Traffic Episode 2 – The Prosecutor

Yes, there is a second episode of Donuts and Traffic. Does that officially make it a series? Just to be sure, episode three is in the works.

In this episode I interview Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor Miriam Norman. She’s an impaired driving expert with some information that may surprise you (and possibly change how you think).

Note: Even though this video was posted on April 1, the actual filming took place before social distancing was in place here in Washington. We don’t want to give the impression we’re disregarding the very important practices needed to keep us safe during this time.