Road Warrior

The in basket: Rod Gross of Poulsbo writes, “I so often see cars that fail to use their turn signals for not only

actual turns right or left, but also for simple lane changes, that I wonder what the laws dictate in that regard.

“Is it in fact illegal NOT to use your turn signal when turning or changing lanes, and how often do the local, and state police actually stop and ticket people for failure to signal?

Also, what are the penalties for failure to signal?  Arguably they are insufficient because the practice  of failing to signal is literally rampant.”

The out basket: Yes, the law requires signaling any turn or lane change, even while entering or leaving a freeway or entering a turn lane.

Signaling while entering or leaving a roundabout is recommended by the state, but it is my understanding that a Port Orchard court case that nullified a DUI arrest says otherwise at single-lane roundabouts. The initial reason for the stop was failure to signal a lane change at the Highway 166 roundabout, so the driver didn’t change lanes.

If that ruling has been overturned, I’m hoping someone will set me straight.

I added to Ross’s inquiry when I passed it along to State  Trooper Russ Winger, spokesman for the patrol here. It admittedly was self-serving because 69-year-old me is a text-book example of an aged driver who regularly forgets to turn off his turn signal after a lane change.

I asked if that is a violation, if the signal must continue throughout the lane change or turn or can be stopped as the turn begins, when I’m more likely to remember.

Russ said, “The law states that you must signal for ‘not less than the last 100 feet traveled’ prior to turning or moving left or right. Could you turn the signal off after 100 feet and then move left or right ? According to the RCW, yes, as long as you immediately start the movement into the other lane. Any lengthy delay  -a second or two at most – would give another motorist reason to believe that the driver either mis-signaled or decided not to change lanes.

“The whole idea behind signaling a turn or lane change is to alert other drivers that SOMETHING is about to occur with a vehicles path or direction of travel.”

Bad news for me on the leaving-the-signal-on front. “Yes,” Russ said, “it is a violation to leave your signal on long after a lane change is complete. Again, driving down the roadway with your signal on with no intent to do anything is hazardous to other motorists due to the false expectations it creates.”

Signaling violations, including that one, carry a $124 fine. “Yes, we do stop motorists for failing to signal, improper signal, no signal, on a regular basis,” Russ said.

“To an officer, this is valid reason to stop and talk with this driver. It could mean several things. Possibly the driver just did not signal. Possibly the driver has an equipment problem, light out or signal indicator not functioning. Possibly the driver was impaired and did not realize the signal was left on or notice a lamp problem.

“Drivers that do not follow basic safe travel rules of the road create a hazard for everyone on the road,” Russ said.

The in basket: Michael Schuyler read the recent Road Warrior column about it’s being illegal to turn right out of Charleston Beach Drive in Bremerton directly into the Highway 304 HOV lane and asked on the Road Warrior blog at kitsapsun.com, “OK. Let’s say you are alone turning right onto a highway where the HOV lane is the right lane, such as SR 305 through Poulsbo. Let’s just say traffic is also heavy at the time.

“If you turn right into the HOV lane you are using the lane illegally. If you turn into the inside lane, you violate the “turn into the nearest lane” rule.

“Will the WSP give you some slack here, or will they cite you for not moving over immediately?” he asked.

The out basket: When that HOV lane opened, the official answer to Michael’s question was kind of vague, saying that turning right into the lane was permissible for a single occupant vehicle if it moved quickly to the general purpose lane. Likewise, moving into the HOV lane was OK to prepare for a right turn off of the highway if you did it right before the turn.

The official advice hasn’t changed. State Trooper Russ Winger says, “He should turn into the closest lane, even if it is the HOV lane. That is not an illegal use of the HOV lane. If not allowed to be in the HOV lane by restriction, move to the other lane as soon as practical.”

If I’m ever in a situation where I take that advice, I’d be careful not to pass any cars in the general purpose lane before moving over, signaling and moving over when a break in traffic appears.

The in basket: At a recent class in East Bremerton for older drivers, sponsored by AARP, the conversation turned to the legality of stopping at the end of a line of vehicles that had filled a left-turn lane, leaving the backside of your car sticking out into the inside through lane.

It then turned to a similar situation, when the drivers behind the last car that fits in the left turn lane occupy an area out of traffic but striped to indicate it’s not a place to drive.

The out basket: Trooper Russ Winger, spokesman for the state patrol here, says that being part of a backup into through traffic is legal, but occupying an area striped as a non-driving area is not.

“It is not an infraction to stop and wait for room to fill the left-turn lane,” he said, “You should have your turn signal on, alerting motorists to your intent, however. Traffic often backs up at certain intersections during heavy traffic and requires vehicles to wait, due to the fact that the turn channels are relatively small. Most commuters are aware of this and if they are not turning left, use the right lane – if (there are) two lanes or more.

“And, no, motorists are not advised to back up into an area not intended for vehicles,” he said.

“They should wait until such time as traffic flow allows proper entry into the left- or right-turn channels, such as at the right-turn channel southbound on SR-303 at the Bentley (in front of Wal-Mart).

“Traffic often backs up at rush hour and vehicles have to wait in the right lane until they can get over to the turn lane. You (also) are not allowed to move over onto the shoulder and proceed – or wait for traffic ahead of you that has done the same thing,” Russ said.

The in basket: Henry Sicat proposes a change in Silverdale to make travel easier.

“As I’m sure most people have probably noticed,” he said, “the Silverdale area traffic (is) getting worse every year, I wonder if (the county) can maybe
add a right turn lane from Ridgetop Boulevard to Silverdale Way northbound, just like the existing right turn lane coming from the opposite direction.

“This, I believe, would help alleviate the congested traffic at that busy intersection,” Henry said.

The out basket: “There are no plans to improve the intersection as your reader suggests,” replies Doug Bear, spokesman for Kitsap County Public Works. “The costs involved in a project like this would make it a capital project and would need to be considered as part of the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

“An explanation of the TIP process is available online at http://www.kitsapgov.com/pw/sixyear_tip.htm,” he said. That’s also where you can also see the most recently adopted TIP to see what road projects the county has planned through 2017.

“During the spring,” Doug added, “we actively encourage residents to submit ideas, like the one your reader mentions, for consideration in this process. Suggestions are considered and rated …. Questions about the tip process can be sent to Jim Rogers, transportation planner, at jrogers@co.kitsap.wa.us.

The in basket: Willadean Howell has a couple of suggestions for making Washington Avenue in Bremerton more driver friendly.

She finds the left turn for those coming off the new Manette Bridge to be uncomfortably tight due to the center barrier that divides the two directions of travel on Washington. If the end of the barrier at the bridge access were cut back a short distance, the turn would a lot easier, she said.

She also echoed a suggestion I got year or so ago about making the southbound outside lane of Washington at Sixth Street a right-turn-only lane. Most drivers make that turn and the inside lane is sufficient to handle those wanting to go straight ahead, she argued. As it is now, drivers who otherwise could make a right on red and be on their way are trapped behind any driver who wants to go straight and must wait for a green light.

When another reader made the same  right-turn-only suggestion, city engineers of the time said they wouldn’t what to make such a change piece-meal but would consider it as part of a larger review of downtown traffic flows.

The out basket: Gunnar Fridriksson, the city street engineer who answers my questions these days, says he agrees with his predecessors about the right turn.

“(There are a) couple of issues here,” he said, “one of which

would be reconfiguring the existing signal and its cabinet – and the costs associated therewith.”

“Further, extending Washington’s widened sidewalk, currently south of Fifth Street, up

to Sixth Street may be affected by such a change and must be considered.”

“I do believe this is an excellent issue to be addressed with a downtown circulation study,” Gunnar added. “I will put a note into the file with your e-mail for when we do pick that back up.”

As for the barrier intruding on left turns, there are no plans to chop it back, he said. The state tested the turn with a Kitsap Transit bus and a tractor-trailer and “were able to have both of them make the movement,” he said.

Of course, state officials said they used a bus in designing the new east-end Manette roundabout and they wound up enlarging it after buses actually started using it.

The in basket: A couple of city councilmen from Kitsap County’s north end recently asked the Road Warrior for help with problems they had spotted in the area, and I was happy to oblige.

Bill Knobloch of Bainbridge Island was the first, appealing for help in February for a situation in which he’d found the state intransigent. Citizen Paul Sanders had brought it to his attention.

“I am writing you as a result of a lost-in-translation communication with WSDOT concerning a continuing problem that directly affects the pocket book of many of my constituents,” Bill said. Right turns on red are prohibited from Highway 305 heading away from downtown onto Madison Avenue, but only by a small sign hanging from the wire that supports the traffic signal heads on 305, he said. Meanwhile, a more obvious sign on the roadside limits the right lane to right turns.

“Considering the existing signs at the side of the highway just prior to the right hand turn, it appears to be a setup for the ordinary driver who will follow the ‘right turn only’ while not having the average scan to see the little white sign saying ‘no turn on red,’ Bill said.

The state had refused to add to the signage due to “current sign congestion.”

This summer Ed Stern of the Poulsbo council sent me the following: “I notice on Highway 3, the signs for the Bremerton Ferry in the vicinity of Bremerton, all read ‘Seattle Ferry’ — very helpful and illustrative, especially for our out-of-town travelers of which we have more than a few, especially in the summer.

“However, when approaching the Poulsbo/Kingston exits on Highway 3, it reads ‘Bainbridge Ferry’ and not the more informative ‘Seattle Ferry’. I have to ask why?”

The out basket: Steve Bennett, traffic operations engineer for the Olympic Region of WSDOT, sent me an e-mail on Aug. 19 saying, “I wanted you to know that we will be ordering a second No Turn On Red sign to be placed on the side of the highway (305)….  I would expect that the sign will be installed next month.” Perhaps it already has been.

Steve more or less concedes Ed’s point, but says it doesn’t rate high on the list of problems his department hopes to address quickly “We can look at a sign redesign when the sign is up for replacement,” he said. “We don’t want to spend the money now as the sign is relatively new and we have not had any other complaints.

“Also,” he said. “we do have ‘Seattle Ferry’ signs on the beginning of (Highway) 305.”

The in basket: Whenever I get stuck behind traffic stopped at at a red light on Warren Avenue  in Bremerton at 11th street, unable to reach the right turn lane that would allow me to proceed up 11th instead of waiting, I wonder what’s holding up the city’s plan to make that right turn lane longer.

The work is to allow more cars to reach 11th in the outside lane and turn right, greatly reducing the lines of vehicles waiting on Warren.

Last I heard they planned to have it done this year, but the construction season is getting on toward rainy months. On the other hand, traffic in the city is about to be altered greatly by the months between the closure of the Manette Bridge and opening of its replacement.

I asked if the two things have something to do with one another.

The out basket: Indeed they do, says Gunnar Fridriksson of the city engineering staff.

“We are anticipating going to ad (for bids) late this year and delaying

construction until next spring,” he said. “Our acquisitions (of right of way) went fairly well and we were planning on going

out this year.  But with workload and then WSDOT announcing the Manette

bridge closure starting in July, we let the construction date slide to accommodate.”

The in basket: Bill Slach says, “On westbound Sedgwick (Road) at the light where you turn right onto Highway 16, there is a lot of room on the right side and folks repeatedly make illegal right turns by crossing the fog line. Isn’t there enough room there for a turn lane?

“The shoulder areas vary widely in width,” he said. “The south side could be made narrower as well as the north side to give enough room to make a turn lane,” he proposed.

“This wouldn’t be a costly fix – some paint ought to do it.

The middle area of the road created by the center merge lane could be narrowed by a foot or so and give enough room to create a turn lane,” he said. “As it is, folks now cross the line on the right by only a little when cars stopped at the light give them room.

“Foot traffic and pedestrians?” he asked, recalling the state’s reason a right turn lane couldn’t just be carved out of the shoulder. “Where are they? The ones I see are on the south side of the highway since they are going to the gas station or McDonalds.

The out basket: Though there are places all over the county where drivers routinely commit the violation of crossing the edge line in their right turns, this is the only place I’ve been asked about it. In 2007, a suggestion was made that the edge line be erased for a distance to make those right turns legal. The answer then was no, that would jeopardize bicyclists and pedestrians.

The answer is still no, says Steve Bennett, the traffic operations engineer for this region. “We continue to believe that it is necessary to widen Highway 160 (Sedgwick) in order to safely provide the space for the right-turn lane.

“Without widening we would have to remove the acceleration pocket used by traffic turning onto the highway from Bravo Terrace. We feel that collisions may increase at the intersection of Bravo Terrace without this refuge/acceleration pocket.”

Well, that’s a sure bet. Getting onto westbound Sedgwick from Bravo Terrace, which serves a motel, McDonalds, Shari’s, Dairy Queen and others, is scary enough without losing the refuge lane a left turner can use.

The in basket:  Brian O’Kelley asked me to settle a bet he had going with a friend.

“My buddy says that people turning left into multi-lanes must select the inboard left lane,” he said. “Thus people across the intersection wanting to turn right on a red light can do so freely, regardless of the crowding and honking of horns.

“I say I don’t think I’m required to take the inboard lane, but even if I am, right-on-red turners have to wait for the intersection to be clear before they can proceed” Brian said. .

“Can you help us out?”

The out basket: Well, I could help out his buddy. Brian lost the bet.

State law requires left turns to be made into the closest available lane in the highway being entered. It’s another of those state laws that seem willfully obscure, yet remain unchanged year after year. It reads:

“The driver of a vehicle intending to turn left shall approach the turn in the extreme left-hand lane lawfully available to traffic moving in the direction of travel of the vehicle. Whenever practicable the left turn shall be made to the left of the center of the intersection and so as to leave the intersection or other location in the extreme left-hand lane lawfully available to traffic moving in the same direction as the vehicle on the roadway being entered.”

Lt. Pete Fisher of the Bremerton police traffic division and Trooper Krista Hedstrom of the State Patrol office here confirmed my belief that is interpreted to forbid swinging wide into any other lane but the inside through lane of the highway being entered.

It would be unusual for a driver to be cited for swinging wide, but I told Brian that should a left turner and a right turner collide in that outside lane, the left turner would be held responsible.

The right turner can do some things that might get him cited, too, like not coming to a complete stop at the red light or swinging wide himself into other than the outside lane if there were more than two lanes moving in that direction. But that wouldn’t  excuse the left turner’s mistake.

Krista did go on to say, “Even though the left turner would be at fault if a collision were to occur, we always remind drivers making those right turns to make sure the intersection is clear prior to entering.”