Articles Posted in Legal Subject Area Guides

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:

1) ODOT Crash Analysis and Reporting

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.)

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.

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.

I’ve always found a lot of mainstream transportation types fairly limited on the imagination front. Transportation types speak about bikes, cars, buses, and feet, with a few drive-by motorcycles, scooters, wheelchairs, and golf carts.

How someone riding a horse (or even Thor’s wheel) was able to make the leap, so to speak, to the automobile will always amaze me.

Surely, in the very near future, something new will be rolling, scooting, and perambulating over (above, or below) the Earth – we can dream, can’t we?