Why Do You Need a Washington State Driver's License?

Every person moving into the state of Washington desiring a driver's license and not having had one previously is required to take both a written test and a road test, as is every resident applying for a first license. I wonder why.

I moved here, for the second time, in 1977 and shortly thereafter went to Bremerton to get a new license. I was driving a brand new Toyota Corolla lift-back with a 5-speed transmission. My examiner was an affable old gentleman and we got along just fine. One of the requirements was to back from one street onto another. In my case, I was asked to stop on a one-way street and back onto the two-way street behind me, making a left turn. I did ok, or so I thought, but was gigged because I did not hug the left curb. My other demerit was given when I was told to quickly accelerate to the speed limit and then stop as fast as I could. The acceleration part was acceptable but he didn't care much when I stepped on the brake without throwing the clutch out. We stopped real quick — like right now! "That wasn't what I asked you to do," he squeaked. "But you said to stop as fast as I can, and that is what I did." He said I didn't have positive control of the car after the engine died.

The man ahead of me in the testing line was told, "You aren't qualified to drive in metropolitan traffic!" I almost broke out laughing when he said, "What do you mean metropolitan? I'm a New York cab driver." He got his license.

I have no problem with the requirement to take a road test. I just wonder why it is there. I walk the roads with my dog several times a day. Roads without sidewalks have a white line painted to the right of the driving lane. I am told these are called fog lines. At any rate, it is illegal to drive to the right of them. It is permissable to park there and they are also used for pedestrian walkways and bike lanes. That is where I walk. It is not a safe place to walk, however. People zoom by engrossed in talking on their cell phones, picking up stuff off the floor of their vehicle, eating, and recently, even reading a book. While ensconced in whatever they shouldn't be doing they wander across the fog line and on more than one occasion I have had to prepare to jump into the ditch or someone's yard.

Driver's in this state do not know what speed limit signs are for. There is a short stretch of 35 mph zone in an otherwise 50 mph area nearby. Almost no one slows down for it, including the sheriff's department and the Washington State Patrol. I commented on this to one deputy and he got highly incensed. "Well, you don't know why they were speeding." He's right — and I do not care. What I do know is that emergency vehicles are supposed to obey the posted speed limits unless they have both their lights and sirens on. Even when on an emergency run they are not to exceed the speed limit by more than 10 mph.

Then there are the tailgaters. Tailgating seems to be the infraction of choice around here. The cops never stop you for following too close so there's no reason not to do it unless, perhaps, you want to live to a ripe old age. I don't like tailgaters. In my younger, pre-family days, I would stomp the brakes for a tailgater, but now I just slow down — way down. Tailgaters must also be stupid, because most of them don't catch on.

Tailgaters often engage in another hazardous driving habit. They have no problem passing on curves and over double solid lines. This, too, is all-too-common.

Over the years I have lived in Washington I have seen some ridiculous drivers. Once, in Tacoma, a woman passed me while playing the flute. How she steered her SUV while using two hands for the flute is beyond me. Another woman was fixing her hair — with both hands — while driving. A law against text messaging was recently passed after a pedestrian was killed by a driver doing so.

Another Washington State careless driving habit is making a left-turn into the on-coming traffic lane. On more than one occasion I have been sitting at the intersection only to have someone turn left into my lane and almost hit me. Drivers also fail to look to the right when making right turns at intersections, parking lot exits, and driveways. When entering the right-of-way, they often turn onto the road to the right of the fog line before moving over into the driving lane. Pedestrians and cyclists beware!

I won't even talk about what it is like when it snows. Oh yes I will. It snows often enough around here that driver's should know how to get around in it, but they don't. "We have different snow here than you do back East," they tell me. "Yeah, like, is it pink or something?" One inch of snow will shut this county down. One year someone called the cops on a driver that was doing donuts in a parking lot to practice recovering from a skid. Duh!

So, why do you need a Washington State driver's license? What! You mean to tell me you found your's in a Cracker Jack box?