Author: DOUG DAHL

Q: I see cars going what looks like at least 25 mph in the alley behind where I work. That seems too fast to me. Is there a speed limit for alleys? And if there is, why isn’t it posted?

A: Everything has its limits. The maximum speed for the Saturn V rocket was 25,000 mph. The maximum speed of a Bugatti Chiron (the fastest production road car) is 305 mph. The Mitubishi Mirage (the cheapest car available in the US in 2023) tops out at 105 mph. Maybe you think I’m not taking your question seriously, but it’s quite the opposite.

The Revised Code of Washington has a set of default speed limits for various types of roads. City streets are 25 mph, county roads are 50 mph, and state highways are 60 mph. That’s the starting point, but you’ve driven on roads with other speed limits. If the default limit isn’t appropriate for the design of the road, local authorities can specify other limits.

Continue reading “Speed Limits in Alleys”

Q: I read your column on pedestrians being required to use the sidewalk when one is available. Is there any law about cars not being allowed to block sidewalks? As a runner, I am continually running out into the street to go around all the cars parked in driveways that hang back enough to block the sidewalk.

A: If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit. Wait, no, that’s the wrong phrase for this situation. I wish I could come up with something as clever as Johnnie Cochran did; a phrase burned into our cultural psyche (at least for anyone exposed to the news in the 90s), so memorable that drivers would no longer park their vehicles on the sidewalk.

Continue reading “Blocking the Sidewalk”

Q: I recently learned that that bicyclists have the right-of-way in the Netherlands. I’ve always heard that bikes outnumber cars over there and it is a bicyclists’ paradise.  But they have the right-of-way; cars and pedestrians have to give way to avoid getting hit by a bike! Why don’t we do something like that here?

A: Can you imagine a place where bikes rule the road, while cars and pedestrians have to fend for themselves? Neither can the Dutch. Many people would agree with you that the Netherlands is a cycling paradise, but it didn’t get that way because of excessively bike-friendly laws.

Continue reading “The Making of a Cycling Paradise”

Q: Why don’t some drivers ever take their free right on red? It’s frustrating sitting there behind someone when they could just go.

A: I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the people reading this question are cheering you on. I am not one of them. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not entirely opposed to the right turn on red. It’s more the attitude I’m not agreeing with.

I’ll explain myself in a moment, but first, a bit about how we got here. The Right Turn on Red (RTOR) has been around for a long time in some parts of the country, but it didn’t become a national institution until the 1970s. The energy crisis prompted the federal government to tie highway funding to energy conservation. One of the conservation requirements was reducing idling for a few seconds by permitting drivers to make a right turn on a red light.

Continue reading “Right Turn on Red is not a Right”

Q: Aren’t drivers supposed to have a clear view out the rear window of their car? I saw someone driving with their entire back window covered in snow. The inability to see behind you is a serious safety issue. They drove past a police car and the officer didn’t do anything. Even if they’re not breaking the law, if I was that officer, I’d have at least pulled them over and told them they should clean the snow off.

A: Snow blocking your view is a problem, and we’ll get to that in a moment. First though, I want to address your proposed violation of a driver’s rights. Let’s pretend for a moment that driving with an entire back window covered in snow is not prohibited by law. The police can’t make a traffic stop just because they don’t like something about the driver’s vehicle.

Continue reading “Snow-Obstructed Windows (and Violating a Driver’s Rights)”

Q: I believe that everyone who renews their driver license should take a small ten-question multiple choice test. That way they would review the “Rules of the Road” book from time to time. It is not meant to deny a license, but to sit down and explain to the person the ones they got wrong and how it should be.

A: I know, that’s not a question. But it did prompt a question for me: Would giving drivers a written test when they renew their license reduce crashes? For the record, I’ve said before that I like this idea. If we’re giving people permission to pilot multi-ton projectiles through neighborhoods, they should at least be able to demonstrate that they know the rules, right?

Continue reading “Would a Refresher Test Save Lives?”

Q: There is an intersection that I often use which is a two-way stop, where the arterial cross-street does not stop. Often cars are stopped at both stop signs waiting for the arterial to clear. Normally at a stop sign, the car that arrives first goes first. However, at this intersection, one of the stopped cars is almost always turning left, and the turning car usually yields to the opposing car going straight, regardless of who stopped first. Can you confirm that a two-way stop is governed by the first-stopped, first-going rule?

A: There’s a moment in Back to the Future Part 2, when Biff’s thugs confront Marty, saying, “Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Then they knock him unconscious, in what they call the easy way. I promise, the easy way to answer this question does not involve getting clubbed in the head. But the hard way will make you a better driver.

Continue reading “Left Turns and Right-of-Way”

Q: I’m writing in response to data you shared surrounding the increase in traffic fatalities. A question comes to mind: Are there statistics compiled showing overall traffic enforcement, and any trend over the past three to five years? And does that trend in enforcement have any correlation to the increase in fatalities? Call it anecdotal, but I will suggest there is a trend. 

A: You’re asking a great question, but I don’t think you went big enough. It’s hard to spot a trend in a three-to-five-year window. So I went bigger. Let’s take a look at the last twenty years of traffic fatalities and traffic enforcement.

Continue reading “Traffic Fatalities and Enforcement Trends”

Q: What does the law say about using turn signals while needing to perform an emergency maneuver?  For example, if I must avoid a head-on collision requiring a spontaneous and immediate response, am I breaking the law if I do not use a turn signal at this moment? 

A: Right now a bunch of BMW drivers are confused by this question. They’re asking themselves, “How can turn signals possibly be required in an emergency? I didn’t think they were even required for ordinary driving.”

The great driving instructor Archilochus once said that under pressure, “We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.” Okay, he wasn’t a driving instructor, he was a Greek poet from 650 BC. He’s not wrong though.

Continue reading “Turn Signals in Emergencies”

Q: Both our cars have running lights that come on automatically, but because they aren’t as bright as headlights and don’t turn on rear lights, we tend to drive after manually turning on headlights during daylight hours. Is this any safer?

A: I can’t find any research comparing the safety of headlights and daytime running lights (DRLs.) But there are plenty of studies showing that some light is better than none. Driving with your DRLs or headlights on during the day reduces your risk of a crash in every country except the United States. (We need a punctuation mark for sarcasm.) The study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was “not statistically significant.” However, several states did their own studies and reached similar conclusions to other countries: vehicle lighting reduces crashes, especially collisions with pedestrians and motorcycles, two of the highest-risk road user groups.

Continue reading “Vehicle Lights Reduce Crashes”