Maybe they’ll call the campaign something simple, like “Hang Up or Pay Up.”
Or “Let it Ring or You’ll Get Dinged.”
“Hands Free or Pay the Fee.”
“Only Dingalings Dial and Drive.”
“Hands Free or Handcuffs?”
“You Think Your Cell Phone Bill is High Now?”
On July 1, the state starts fining drivers $124 for holding a cell phone while driving.
Brace for some new gestures on the road as drivers tell one another to hang up.
Send your ideas for a slogan for the cell-phone campaign or a description or photo of your new gesture to stsmarts@heraldnet.com.
Drivers can’t be stopped by police and fined just for talking on a phone, State Patrol trooper Keith Leary said, but troopers can find other reasons: erratic speeds, weaving across lane markers, the kinds of things drivers do when they’re distracted.
“We need to change our driving behaviors when it comes to the cell phone,” he said. “If you’re expecting phone calls, allow that cell phone to ring and exit the freeway before you pick up that phone. If you want to talk on a cell phone, do it hands-free.”
Under the law, tickets for dialing and driving won’t stay on a driver’s permanent record or be reported to insurance companies.
Protesters of the new law already can be heard chanting “Multitaskers Unite!” They chafe at wearing a phone earpiece.
To read the new law, search for RCW 46.61.667 at www.access.wa.gov.
Red-faced over red lights
Question: Who controls the traffic signals on Hewitt Avenue in Everett? Why can’t the signals be synchronized so that they stay green when there is no traffic on the side streets? It gets so frustrating when the light turns green at Broadway going west, then the lights turn red at Lombard while it is green at Oakes, Rockefeller, Wetmore and so forth. Until you get there — and then they turn red!
Joe Loo, Gold Bar
Answer: The traffic signals along Hewitt Avenue within downtown Everett are timed for pedestrians. The walk lights come on automatically and have a short 51-second cycle to create a walking-friendly downtown. The signals are synchronized to provide progression through two pairs of traffic signals at about 18 mph in both directions. Two pairs of traffic signals turn green while next pair turn red. Lombard and Oakes, Rockefeller and Wetmore, and Colby and Hoyt operate in synchronized pairs.
Dongho Chang, city of Everett traffic engineer
Radar love
Question: What are the new radar-emitting devices mounted to large sign poles near I-5? I have noticed them around the Fourth Street exit in Marysville of both north and southbound I-5. They appear to be solar powered.
Ian Most, Stanwood
Answer: These radar-emitting devices are speed sensors used to measure traffic speed on some of our highways. The sensors collect information and send it back to the WSDOT traffic management center in Shoreline, where it is electronically color-coded and posted to our traffic congestion map: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/seattle.
In March 2008, crews installed 10 new radar speed sensors between 116th Street NE in Marysville and Highway 526 in Everett. Drivers now are able to view traffic speeds on our congestion map from the King-Pierce County line to Marysville. Solar panels actively recharge the battery-powered speed sensors.
Broch Bender, WSDOT spokeswoman
Ask about traffic
Have a question about traffic or street rules? E-mail stsmarts@heraldnet.com.
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