Don’t let your kids grow up to be traffic statistics. Maybe you want them, instead, to grow up to be transportation analysts or transportation journalists!
Some Oregon traffic statistical compilations:
A few of the on and off-the-grid Portland-metro, Trimet, and traffic blogs for more than you might want to know about public transit in the Portland-metro area:
1) Trimet official website
2) History of Public Transit in Portland
3) Hard Drive: A commuting blog
4) Association of Oregon Rail and Transit Advocates (and their Transit Links)
5) Portland Transport
6) Transit Sleuth
7) Trimetofficialinformation
8) Trimetiquette
Traffic Week and Traffic Law OLR blog posts.
Visit the Oregon Legislature’s 2010 Special Session Information website for updates on what will happen in February.
There is also that January 2010 election … and depending on the outcome, the Special Session agendas may change a lot or a little.
Pedestrians have to follow the law, too. The Oregon Pedestrian Rights [and responsibilities] website links to laws and other resources.
I drove (very slowly) past a jogger the other day. It was a dark, gloomy, wet early – very early – morning. The not-so-smart jogger was in the street, jogging in the same direction as traffic, on a narrow 2-way street, dressed in black, WITH HEADPHONES ON.
This person definitely had a death wish. We all see this every day. I’m a hard-core pedestrian and public transit rider, someone who drives very, very little, and these pedestrians make me very nervous. (I suppose it’s the same way bad bicyclists make good bicyclists nervous and irritable.)
The December 2009 Lane County (Oregon) Law Library Newsletter alerts us to a new American Bar Association (ABA) free, online publication:
ABA Releases Legal Guide for Elderly and Seriously Ill (ABA News Release)
The print set of the 2009 Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) is arriving in libraries and law offices around the state, but it’s not yet online. Soon, soon.
The ORS is chock full of goodies (notice I did not say goodness), including the full text of the Oregon Constitution.
No, not that hand signal, although, a Nov. 15th, 2009, Ask Marilyn column had a wonderful Q&A about those hand signals (aka “motorist salute”), that is, she agreed with a reader that a SORRY! hand signal was desperately needed.
(And this post is not about Turn Signals, which I talked about in another Traffic Week blog post.)
None of us is perfect and there are times when we wish to convey our contrition.
After reading yet another news story about someone who made an Unsignaled Lane Change and ended up in really deep trouble for other infractions (to put it mildly), I offer this public service notice.
(Oh, and you can find out what that infraction will cost you at the OJD Base Fine Schedule website.)
I know most Oregonians (including police and parking enforcement vehicles) don’t have working turn signals, or maybe there is a turn-signal force-field around the state that shuts them off, but get yours fixed, or figure out how to make them work, and then use them.
Even if Calvin sometimes bemoans that fact that life is never unfair in his favor, sometimes things do turn out the way they are supposed to, or at least the way we want them to:
Debra Denise Slaight V. DMV, Oregon Court of Appeals (A133609)
(For a summary of the case, see the 12/30/09 OJD Media Release)
Before getting to the Traffic Law Question of the Day, “If I get a ticket (or get in an accident), do I have to tell my parents/guardian?”, here are some:
Words of Wisdom to Parents of New Drivers: If you can in any way afford it, hire a professional to teach your teenager (or any loved one just learning) to drive.
Note: Do you think you can’t afford driving lessons? Wouldn’t you be willing to give up something, anything, to save your child’s life – or someone else’s child’s life? Yes, you can give up $500 worth of fancy, fattening coffee drinks and other Not Good for You treats for a couple months – and possibly save a life while you’re at it. Regular coffee tastes just fine and in fact it will taste even better knowing what you did with the money you saved.
Oregon Legal Research Blog