July 2022 – The Wise Drive

July 28, 2022July 18, 2024

Do Group Motorcycle Rides Get Special Rules?

Q: I recently ran into a horde of motorcyclists, and by horde I’m talking 50-60. At cross streets, one motorcycle would block the intersection and the rest would drive through. Red lights were ignored. What’s the police ruling on this?

A: I wonder, do groups of motorcyclists like being referred to as a horde? (The one sure exception being a motorcycle club called “The Horde.”) In one sense, it’s the right word – the dictionary definition includes a large group, a nomadic group, and a moving pack of animals (assuming we include humans as animals.) However, “horde” has a sense of chaos attached to it, as in a horde of stampeding bulls or a horde of attacking zombies. Group motorcycles rides, when done properly, work hard to avoid chaos.

July 21, 2022July 18, 2024

The Problem With Angle Parking

Q: Backing out of angle parking is tricky. Without the aid of backup cameras (or even with them), if the person backing up is hit by oncoming traffic, who would be at fault? This assumes oncoming traffic is not speeding, texting, or otherwise doing something that could contribute to the crash.

A: Before we get to the “Whose fault is it?” part, let’s take a moment to acknowledge that most angle parking has a fundamentally flawed design. Pulling into a parking spot is easy, but the problem becomes apparent when it’s time to leave. Depending on who parked next to you, you might need to back half your vehicle out of the parking spot and into the lane of travel before you can see if there’s another car coming. At the risk of stating the obvious, that’s a bad thing. The problem is that when backing out of an angle parking stall, the driver is positioned at the wrong end and wrong side of the vehicle to see oncoming traffic.

July 14, 2022July 18, 2024

Driving Suspended on Private Property

Q: Can a police officer give a ticket for driving with a suspended license on private property?

A: There are a lot of things you can legally do in a vehicle on private property that would be clear violations of the law on public roads. Driving suspended is not one of them.

If you were to crack open the chapter on driver licenses in the Revised Code of Washington, the first section you’d find would start with, “No person may drive a motor vehicle upon a highway in this state without first obtaining a valid driver’s license . . .” If you read that closely, you’ll notice it says, “upon a highway.” Based on that, you might conclude that driver license laws only apply while you’re on public roads, and you’d almost be right. But not quite.

July 7, 2022February 24, 2025

Turning into the Correct Lane

Q: Here’s the situation: I’m at an intersection intending to turn left. The road I’m turning on to has two lanes in each direction. Across from me there’s a car that’s turning right (their right), so we’re both turning onto the same road. Since there’s two lanes, can I proceed to turn into the nearest (left) lane, expecting the other driver to turn into their nearest (right) lane? If there is a bump, who is at fault?

A: Sometimes a question about traffic law is really a surface-level question masking a much deeper concern. Maybe you didn’t intend it that way, but I read it as a search for existential meaning, as in, “How much trust should I have in humanity to consistently do the right thing?”