Gov. Chris Gregoire has proclaimed Thursday "Drive Nice Day" in the state of Washington. As part of the event, Seattle and Tacoma will again compete to see which city has the nicest drivers. Observation teams will stake out busy intersections and score motorists, marking down "not nice" driving habits like speeding and tailgating. The city that does best will get a $10,000 grant from Allstate. Seattle won in 2008, but by a narrow margin. Drive Nice Day was apparently founded in 2007 by a Redmond driving school, but has since grown to include support from state agencies like the Department of Licensing. So, motorists, will you be on your best behavior tomorrow?
Update: I like KING 5 Twitter follower @howiecohen's idea. He tweets: "or you could just start tomorrow and keep it up." "Drive Nice Day" has a Twitter account too.
Update: I like KING 5 Twitter follower @howiecohen's idea. He tweets: "or you could just start tomorrow and keep it up." "Drive Nice Day" has a Twitter account too.
Well it is a start for the state. Who knows. Maybe this is the start of a new wave. I hope so.
How about getting a "Drive Smart" campaign?
Or better yet, "Drive Properly". Coming from Miami, I'd personally take the Rude, Offensive, Race-car style of driving that you see down there over the overly-obliging style of driving found here in WA. Attention, people:
- Driving 10 miles and hour under the limit in rush hour traffic is NOT NICE. Specially when its several cars, side-by-side, never passing each other to allow the flow of traffic.
- Coming to an almost stop in the middle of a freeway at a yield point, because you neither can decide who has the right of way is NOT NICE.
- Spending 2 minutes at a 4-way stop because: "no, you go.. oh.. no, really, you go.. no, please, I insist, YOU go.." is NOT NICE.
- Stopping in the middle of a roundabout to allow that car to enter is NOT NICE.
These type of practices are disruptive, and unsafe, they cause delays and high traffic, and help pollute the road and cause accidents.
Don't get me wrong, being overly aggressive is very bad too. But proper driving lays somewhere in between the two extremes. And as far as fixing the traffic problems in WA state, I believe they're tackling the wrong problem.
Failing to use your turn signal is NOT NICE either. This is not a difficult thing to do.
"It's just a lane change" - well, that's fine, but it would be nice if you let everyone know you had a lane change planned.
I would vote for "driving properly" as well!
Andres - I'm with you!!!! YAY!!!!! Thank you!!! I'm from LA and I could not agree with you more. (I'm sure all the Seattlites will chime in with something to the lines of blaming the California imports for the poor driving.) But, you couldn't have nailed it better on the head... driving under the speed limit is not safe... and, being a dumb, indecisive driver is NOT safe. Thank you Andres! Thank you!!!
WTF is happening to the English language?
There are these things called ADVERBS.
Some are made by simply adding LY to the adjective.
This campaign would be more correctly called 'Drive NiceLY Day'.
Funny thing is that I never see anyone driving below the speed limit here. I'm always driving the speed limit and everyone is always PASSING me and honking at me and flashing their lights at me, because all they want to do is speed, which is both UNSAFE and ILLEGAL. I know my speedometer is right. When it says Speed Limit 60, that means the speed limit is 60, not 70 or 75. It's a pretty simple concept. I would bet Andres thinks that people driving the speed limit are actually driving 10mph under the speed limit - but I don't want to assume that. If you're driving faster than the posted number, than you're driving illegally and unsafely, it's as simple as that. The "flow of traffic" is not important when the "flow of traffic" is illegal.
Also to drive "nice" (which sounds like "nice" = legal and safe from this article), other extremely commonly broken laws around here that should be easily fixed if people are conscious enough to help make it safer for them and others include (but are not limited to): failing to use turn signals, not stopping at stop signs (your car's tires have to actually come to a stop!!), using a two-way turn lane as an extension of a one-way turn lane, driving across solid lines and not waiting until you can legally change lanes, changing lanes WHILE you turn (you are required to turn into the lane closest to your starting lane, THEN you can change lanes - look it up in Washington law!), stopping at or behind crosswalks/cross bars/stop bars/stop signs - not halfway out into the intersecting street, following too closely or changing lanes in front of another car (remember, one car length for every ten miles per hour of speed - if you're any closer than this it's unsafe as you won't have time to stop suddenly if you have to), making turns too sharply (you are required to not turn your wheels until you are making your turn), honking your horn and flashing your lights at someone obeying the law just because you want to drive illegally and unsafely, driving around people on the right shoulder to pass, not stopping at red lights before making a right turn on red, and driving on the wrong side of the road (and I'm not talking about legal passing) to get ahead of people following the laws.
Please obey the laws and drive safely, and we wouldn't have to worry about "nice" driving.
Okay, I'm going to defend some of the Seattlites, as I'm one.
I whole heartedly agree that there are a lot of drivers out there that are overly aggressive as well as those who are overly cautious. But not all Seattlites are in these groups!!!!!
We need a happy medium where drivers drive the speed limit, at least. And stay off your butt, if you are doing the speed limit or even going over it a little..... : - )
And really, we don't have to stop to make a right turn unless you're waiting for a pedestrian!!!!
So let's not put all in the same "boat", we're not all like that.
Thank you
1. If you're not overtaking, get out of the left/middle lane. There is no need for you to be there.
2. Learn how to merge on to the freeway.
3. Do the speed limit where conditions allow.
4. On the subject of speed limits, make it 70 on the freeway.
4. Make the driving test hard. If you fail the driving test in this state, that's your one shot. Hard luck. Enjoy the bus.
5. Retesting for people over 72 (random age). I'm sorry, I don't trust you anymore.
6. Learn how to drive in the rain. There's a fair bit of it around.
7. Use your turn signal, I'm not psychic. Looking at me when you're trying to change lane or merge doesn't help. You do that, quite frankly I'm ignorning you.
8. Stop eating/texting/doing makeup/reading the newspaper while driving. Feel free to insert another activity in that list that doesn't include driving.
9. You are not invulnerable in a SUV. Likewise you are not a martyr by driving a hybrid.
10. Unless it says you can't, you are allowed to turn right on red if it's safe to do so.
To the cyclists out there, you're either a pedestrian or a road user. Pick one, and let me know which one you are today. I do what I can to watch for you, but you're harder to spot. I apologize in advance. Just do me a favor, and follow the rules of the road if you're a road user today (STOP at a stop sign).