To kick this off, I have not been pulled over or ticketed, nor do I care to skirt the law. Read on :)
Way back, further back than I like to calculate, I remember my driver's education instructor telling me that the Traffic Light laws regarding intersections were different between WA and OR.
I recently got into a discussion with someone about this, and what they were telling me did not match my memory of how it worked. So I went online and found the law for OR, but I can not find a law for WA. It would seem that the use of Red Light Cameras up here has spawned a flood of bitching and moaning, and has drowned out relevant information.
In Oregon, if a person enters an intersection while the light is yelllow, they can be fined. The law does not state where a vehicle must be at the transition of lights, only that if they can stop safely they should, where by "safely" is open to interpretation. I have a friend that was ticketed for it in Portland. I use this as evidence that OR is a sucky state (but not as bad as CA and ID, so we get along, right?)
My understanding of WA law was that if you are in the intersection when the light turns red, that you can be fined. Cut and dry. This makes sense to me, as the yellow gives a warning of the impending red. Lights are setup to have longer or shorter yellows depending on the speed of the road. Unless you are speeding, you should be able to either start applying the brake and stop well within the edge of the intersection, or continue at speed and make it through easily. If you can't, you were either speeding or not paying attention. At least that's how my memory goes.
Does anyone know where I can find this information for WA, and verify it for OR? And I don't mean what your father told you the law was, but somewhere written, preferably written on a government website run by Washington states :)
Thanks guys!
p.s. to the fools that think the law is "as long as I enter the intersection before it turns red, I'm following the law"
Way back, further back than I like to calculate, I remember my driver's education instructor telling me that the Traffic Light laws regarding intersections were different between WA and OR.
I recently got into a discussion with someone about this, and what they were telling me did not match my memory of how it worked. So I went online and found the law for OR, but I can not find a law for WA. It would seem that the use of Red Light Cameras up here has spawned a flood of bitching and moaning, and has drowned out relevant information.
In Oregon, if a person enters an intersection while the light is yelllow, they can be fined. The law does not state where a vehicle must be at the transition of lights, only that if they can stop safely they should, where by "safely" is open to interpretation. I have a friend that was ticketed for it in Portland. I use this as evidence that OR is a sucky state (but not as bad as CA and ID, so we get along, right?)
My understanding of WA law was that if you are in the intersection when the light turns red, that you can be fined. Cut and dry. This makes sense to me, as the yellow gives a warning of the impending red. Lights are setup to have longer or shorter yellows depending on the speed of the road. Unless you are speeding, you should be able to either start applying the brake and stop well within the edge of the intersection, or continue at speed and make it through easily. If you can't, you were either speeding or not paying attention. At least that's how my memory goes.
Does anyone know where I can find this information for WA, and verify it for OR? And I don't mean what your father told you the law was, but somewhere written, preferably written on a government website run by Washington states :)
Thanks guys!
p.s. to the fools that think the law is "as long as I enter the intersection before it turns red, I'm following the law"
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