Road Warrior

The in basket: Jim DeLorm of Port Orchard says he’s “just curious” in asking “where or how did the price for tickets get started? It’s always $101, for seat belts, construction zones and now yellow lights, and whatever else.
“Are they supposed to be like Math 101 and English 101. Maybe now Traffic Laws 101?
“Who gets the money?” he asked. “A hundred dollars to the governor and $1 to the State Patrol, or maybe vice versa?”

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The in basket: Brenda Hamre writes, “”While waiting at the eastbound stop light at Fairgrounds Road and Highway 303. I had the red light and after checking for oncoming traffic I prepared to turn right onto southbound Highway 303.  Suddenly a car northbound on Highway 303 and in the left-hand turn lane pulled a U-turn to head southbound with a green turn light. Had I been actually turning, I may have been broad-sided by this car. 
“Who has the right-of-way in a situation like that?” 

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The in basket: Roland Powell notes that Galloping Gertie, the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge, collapsed 67 years ago this November. He wondered if the state has taken steps to make sure that a sorry byproduct of the collapse – the discovery that the insurance agent who was supposed to have bought policies on the bridge had misappropriated the money and it had no coverage – isn’t repeated.

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The in basket: Mrs. Road Warrior, aka TheJudybaker, had to renew her car tab this month and was surprised to find wording on the reminder the state Department of Licensing sent her that said we now are required by law to provide the drivers license numbers of all registered owners at the time of renewal.
Reluctant to have any more personal ID numbers on any more documents than necessary, she asked if a person really has put the drivers license numbers in the blank spaces provided or the tab won’t be renewed.

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Tying Up Some Loose Ends: Some recent Road Warrior columns about traffic signals that won’t detect waiting motorcycles, litter blowing out of garbage trucks and knowing whether your toll-collection responder for the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge is working brought some followups you should know about.

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The in basket: Curiosity about what to expect from electronic toll collecting at the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge is peaking, with a lot of questions coming to the Road Warrior about it. There are so many, I’ll be addressing them in groups over time.
Denis LaCrosse asks, “Lacking a front plate, are we antique owners getting a free pass? Granted, we don’t use them daily, but how are we going to be caught, if we cheat?”
Scott Minard read that the transponder cards the electronic readers read should be someone horizontal and expects problems with the vertical windshield on his Jeep Wrangler.

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The in basket: While I was researching a Road Warrior question, I came across this law in the RCWs, number 46.61.205, which reads, “The driver of a vehicle about to enter or cross a highway from a private road or driveway shall yield the right of way to all vehicles lawfully approaching on said highway.”
Does this mean, I wondered, that we aren’t required to come to a full stop when entering a road, street or highway where there is no stop sign or signal?

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The in basket: Pemco Insurance raised my eyebrows with a short item in its January newsletter, Perspective, which asserted that it is illegal to pull to the shoulder to use a cell phone, read a map, discipline children, change
drivers or take a bathroom break (??).
That struck me as a peculiar and contradictory piece of advice from an insurance company, since we often are encouraged not to do those things while driving.

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The in basket: I got down to the new Bremerton Harborside Park next to the city ferry terminal on Mother’s Day after missing the opening festivities the weekend before. It seems to have generated some controversy on this newspaper’s opinion page. Mark me down as wowed.
Most of the development on the city waterfront the past few years has struck me as catch-up, Bremerton trying to offer what other cities can, so visitors don’t leave disappointed.
This new park, though, takes it to the next level. It is a stunning blend of artistry, creativity, relevance and technology that goes beyond what I have seen in other cities.

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The in basket: Debra Ledeaux writes that she had to abort a left turn she was planning to make from Bond Road onto Pugh Road in North Kitsap when the car behind her passed her on the right and the driver behind it didn’t apparently didn’t see her and skidded toward her.
She wonders if such passes on the right are legal. “I’ve seen
sheriff cars, Access buses, school buses and even 18-wheelers pass like that and it just doesn’t seem legal,” she said.

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