March 2022 – The Wise Drive

March 31, 2022April 4, 2022

Why We Don’t Believe Distracted Driving Data (And Why We Should)

Q: I’ve heard the Traffic Safety Commission talking about how most drivers aren’t driving distracted (something like nine out of ten.) I find that hard to believe. When I look around I see people on their phones all the time. How’d you get those numbers?

A: Before I explain how we got the numbers, let’s consider why you don’t believe them. If it’s any comfort, you’re not alone. Many people, when they hear the statistic that more than nine out of ten drivers are focused on the road, reject the data as somehow flawed.

I’m guilty of it myself. Last week, while in a city I don’t visit often, I walked along the main thoroughfare and thought to myself, “Wow, every driver in this town is on their phone.” To confirm my observation I started counting. After 50 or so vehicles, I counted five drivers that were on their phone or otherwise distracted, roughly in line with the statewide results.

March 24, 2022March 28, 2022

The Right Way to Make a Multi-Lane Change

Q: Sometimes while driving on a freeway with three or more lanes I’ll see another driver change two or more lanes at once. I was under the impression that you’re only supposed to change one lane at a time. Is it legal to do a multi-lane change?

A: I don’t really want to answer this question, because I’m concerned about how some drivers might alter their driving habits for the worse. However, if you’re reading a column on traffic safety I’m going to trust that you’re not who we need to worry about.

March 17, 2022March 17, 2022

The Risks of Drowsy Driving

Q: I was reading about how a lack of sleep affects our brain, and it got me wondering how it affects our driving. What kind of data are there around drowsy driving?

A: As I write this it’s the Monday after setting the clocks forward an hour. I feel like I started my day a half-hour ahead of schedule, but I’m actually behind. I could go on a tangent about the loss of productivity and actual physical harms caused by daylight savings, but since you’ve been reading about the problems associated with a lack of sleep you probably already know that.

Falling asleep while driving is obviously a problem. I don’t think that needs any explanation. Even if you’re at the point of rolling down the window and turning up the stereo to prevent nodding off, we have a safety issue. If you’ve convinced yourself that closing one eye at a time while you drive is a reasonable solution to your exhaustion, well, it’s not; you’re not a dolphin. But you are sleep deprived. (Nature trivia – dolphins can sleep with one eye open. They rest half their brain at a time so they can watch out for predators and come up for air.)

March 10, 2022March 12, 2022

Babies in the Carpool Lane

Q. Are babies considered a person when it comes to carpool lanes? Can a single driver and an infant count as a two-person carpool?

A: In 1974 Washington established carpool lanes for “efficient utilization of the highway” and “conservation of energy.” (This was the peak of the oil crisis.) The strategy was simple: reduce traffic by putting two or more would-be solo drivers into the same vehicle. Based on that, you might think the law would insist that only licensed drivers count toward carpool occupancy requirements. That is not the case.

March 3, 2022March 2, 2022

Headlights All The Time

Q: I have noticed a high number of cars and trucks without their lights on in bad weather. But here’s the thing – about 75 percent of them are black, dark blue, dark gray – the color of wet asphalt. I’m clueless about why people with dark-to-black cars see no need to turn their headlights on, especially close to sunset on rainy days. I often don’t see them coming from behind. Any ideas?

A: I just stepped out of my office and took a look at the cars parked along my street. Of the 25 cars I can see, 16 are black, gray or silver. That’s higher than national studies showing that these colors make up around 52-55 percent of vehicles on the road. If our choice of car color is correlated with the clothing color choices for the typical Washingtonian, that makes sense.