Animated Traffic Law

Visibility – ’tis a big dot deal, especially when you’re in that mosh pit called intersection.
General rule to live by: you’re twice as visible to others during the daylight if your
headlights are on. Make sure they see you – that’s how they avoid hitting you.

Consider the rearview mirror. The next time you’re on a freeway when a semi’s behind you
the time it will take the driver of that truck to stop. Most of us take for
granted there’s enough room between his grill and our back bumper to stop safely.
Not always the case. Rule of thumb: it will take the driver of a semi
twice the distance to stop as it will the driver of a passenger vehicle.

ATLC is currently contributing a bi-weekly bike law article to Bike Portland’s blog.
They are under the heading, “Bike Law 101.” Check ‘em out.

To stop a motor vehicle is a train of three consecutive events:
1) perceiving the need to stop
2) reacting to that need (taking foot off gas and onto brake)
3) stopping (pushing down on brake and slowing the vehicle)
Depending on the speed your vehicle is traveling, the condition of the road and
how quickly you are to perceive and react, the time and distance to stop a
vehicle is what I call the brake delay. As a general rule stick the following in
your pocket: it will take you 3/4 of a second to perceive the need to stop;
3/4 of a second to react to that perception. If paying attention
while driving it will take a total of about 1 1/2 seconds to engage the brake –
hence, 1 1/2 second brake delay. Now consider this. Most motorists
traveling on a freeway follow at a distance of less than 2 seconds from the vehicle
in front of them.
If the motorist ahead perceives and/or reacts faster than you – then what?

All circles are not created equal. Roundabouts and traffic circles are both round. That’s about all they
have in common. Imagine LARGE when thinking roundabout; small for traffic circle. Roundabouts
are not only larger than traffic circles but once inside them you have right-of-way over
those vehicles trying to enter. To the contrary, traffic circles afford right-of-way to those vehicles
on the right, NOT those inside the circle. Dizzy? Going in circles can do that.

Believe it or not, all stops are not created equal. The priorities of where you must stop are as follows:
When stopping at an intersection controlled by a traffic light.
Stop at the stop line. (usually a 12 -18″ solid white line prior to the crosswalk)
If no stop line, at the marked crosswalk.
If no marked crosswalk, before entering the intersection.

When stopping at an Intersection controlled by stop sign.
Stop line
If no stop line, at the marked crosswalk.
If no marked crosswalk, at the stop sign.

While at Lifesavers conference last week I learned something. In Tempe, AZ,
a bicyclist, while traveling on the sidewalk, must travel with traffic. In other words,
It is illegal for a bicyclist to ride against traffic while traveling on a sidewalk.

In many communities around the country, when a bicyclist is permitted to ride on the
sidewalk h/she is free to travel in any direction – just like a pedestrian.

So, there you go. Be careful what you assume is true. It might not be.
Get to know your particular city’s bicycle ordinances. There are usually a few that are
more restrictive than the state statutes.

When you’re the “innocent victim” in a financially costly crash what’s going to be asked eventually is -
“Did you contribute to this crash?” In a crash culpability isn’t as
simple as who is wrong and who is right. The acid test is due care. Could the crash
have been prevented or minimized? Were you exercising due care? Were you driving in a prudent
and reasonable manner?

A crash is a bad habit. Actually, a crash is the result of a bad driving habit(s).
Habits are the result of false driving assumptions.
To name just a few of those assumptions: – “I’m at a safe following distance,”
“I’ve got the right-of-way,” “It’s legal to make this turn,” “I’m traveling at a legal speed.” etc.
We build our driving behavior, or habits, on our assumptions about what we believe is or is not legal.
Our assumptions and habits are reinforced every time we make a trip in our vehicle and avoid a traffic ticket
and/or a crash. Why shouldn’t we? No bad news is good news. So off we go driving the same way day after day.
Until – the crash. When that happens our bad driving habit(s) will have a price tag called liability.

Some pertinent information was missing in first draft. Please see following for a more accurate portrayal of the law.

Across the board, in every state, the motorist turning left at an intersection controlled by a stop sign
must yield to the motorist proceeding straight. This, when those streets with stop signs are perpendicular to a through way (road without a
stop sign). This is true regardless of how long you’ve been sitting there waiting to make a left turn.
That said, most drivers will abide by a “first come, first served” policy.
In fact, many state drivers handbooks encourage such a policy. But make no mistake, that is not what
the law says. If at such an intersection and you’re turning left and the oncoming motorist is proceeding straight, you must yield ROW before turning left.
This type of intersection is commonly found in rural areas along state highways where side streets intersect with the state route.