Q&A | Honking can be illegal | Lake City hazards

Q: Here's one worth giving a toot about: The other day Mark Cruz, of Renton, was waiting to turn left at a green light in downtown Seattle. The car in front of him was sitting under the light, turn signal blinking, but had not budged even though all oncoming traffic had passed.

Cruz honked his horn to urge the driver to move. "Then I was pulled over by a Seattle police officer on a motorcycle. He let me off on a warning for honking at the car in front of me.

"Dumbfounded, I said, 'Of course I was.' What am I supposed to do when someone just sits there at a green light?

"He then told me that use of your horn is only for emergencies."

Only in Seattle? "This seems so far-fetched. I have a hard time believing it," said Cruz. In Southern California, where he grew up, honking horns weren't unusual. And he's lived in other places, including back East, before moving to this state about a decade ago. He'd never heard of a horn rule.

"I have always used my horn with regularity," he said, assuming his horn to be as indispensable as his turn signal and headlights.

What should a driver do when the car up ahead won't move? "Can you please tell me what the law in Washington is on the use of your horn?"

A: While it's true that drivers in the Northwest pride themselves on being more genteel than in some other parts of the country, it's also true that this state has, shall we say, a horn rule.

The officer was not out of line, said State Patrol spokesman Bob Calkins. In fact, Trooper Kirk Rudeen, also of the Patrol, referenced a state statute (RCW 46.37.380) that says a horn should be used only when reasonably necessary. "Honking at the car in front of you to go because the light turned green is not considered proper use of the horn," said Rudeen.

So what to do? "What we tell people is unless it's an emergency situation, just be patient and polite," Rudeen said.

But Lowell Porter, former State Patrol chief and now director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, points out that what's considered reasonably necessary, or an emergency, could be a judgment call, subject to interpretation.

A horn might alert a distracted driver. Or it could incite road rage.

Should you get a ticket for honking, could you challenge it in court? Of course you could. But a court's view of horn honking here might not be the same as, say, in the heart of New York City, where many folks view honking as a way of life.

New York has a honking law similar to this state's. Is anyone paying attention? Maybe very few. "Probably 99 percent of the horn honking here is unnecessary, a way for motorists to vent their frustrations," said John Corlett, government-affairs director for AAA New York. From time to time, New York City police do crack down on noise violations, he said, "but I don't think the law deters anybody from honking their horn here."

Q: In their senior years, residents at Stratford at Maple Leaf, the year-old retirement community on Lake City Way Northeast, find lots to like about their surroundings.

But Bernice Gilmore, the new president of Stratford's resident council, says residents long for a traffic signal and marked crosswalk in front of their building, which is on the west side of Lake City Way at Northeast 90th Street. They also want a convenient bus stop. The closest stop is several blocks away, without sidewalks along the way.

Most of Stratford's nearly 100 residents don't drive. Gilmore, who is in her early 80s, says she feels safer driving to the restaurant just across the street than crossing the busy street on foot.

"I am scared to walk across the street, and I know most of the folks here wouldn't consider it," she said. "They are afraid, and I don't blame them."

Lake City Way is one of the city's busiest thoroughfares. An average of 35,000 vehicles pass by daily. The closest traffic signal south of the Stratford is at Northeast 86th Street, about three blocks away. The closest to the north is at Northeast 95th Street, four blocks away. None of the intersections in between have marked crosswalks, although by law it is legal for pedestrians to venture a crossing anyway.

The nearest bus stop on Lake City Way also is at Northeast 95th. Stratford's residents could take the bus into downtown Seattle without crossing the street. But not so getting home. "There are people here who said they'd take the bus if it were immediately accessible," said Gilmore. "But they really can't walk distances at all."

A: There hasn't been a pedestrian accident at that intersection in the past five years, according to city statistics. But that doesn't mean it's the safest place to cross. It is, after all, a five-lane street, counting the center turn lane.

Lake City Way is technically a state highway (Highway 522), but it is still under the city's umbrella. So the city has to get state approval before any changes can be made.

According to Gregg Hirakawa of the city's Department of Transportation, the city has no plan at this point to add a signal at that intersection. But he said the city is willing to take another look.

To get a signal approved, the city would need to study pedestrian and traffic volumes, traffic speed and lane configuration, among other things, as well as meeting certain federal standards.

The department is working with King County Metro to determine what's possible, said Wayne Wentz, the city Transportation Department's traffic-management director.

The city's curbspace-management team is studying the location to see if there is enough space to add a bus stop, and a city traffic-signal engineer is performing a traffic analysis to see if federal criteria would be met for a pedestrian signal, Wentz said.

Metro Transit spokeswoman Linda Thielke said her agency would need approval from the city and state, plus a signalized pedestrian crossing installed before a bus stop could be added in front of the Stratford.

It could be a lengthy process. Meghan Soptich of the state Department of Transportation said the state has not yet been approached about this particular intersection. Wentz said the city hopes to have findings from its study within the next month.

Q: For traffic headed south on Fremont Avenue North through the heart of Fremont, you won't find designated turn lanes at intersections between North 50th Street, near the gates to Woodland Park Zoo, and North 37th Street, near the north end of the Fremont Bridge. That's just over a mile.

But area resident Mark Essig says you're likely to find traffic problems at much-traveled intersections along that stretch. He says there are frequently long lines of vehicles trying to make left turns from Fremont Avenue onto North 46th Street, and also North 39th Street, both busy arterials.

"This causes backups and confusion for people traveling straight south at those lights, and many times close accidents as drivers veer out of the left-turn line to continue going straight."

His suggestion: new left-turn pockets at those two intersections, similar to a designated left-turn area at North 37th Street. That, he said, would help keep traffic moving.

A: Wentz, the city Transportation Department's traffic-management director, says police collision records don't indicate those intersections to be problem spots, so designated left-turn pockets for safety should not be necessary. But he says the department is willing to take another look, and to consider the complaint of traffic delays.

"Another consideration along Fremont is that adding left-turn bays would most likely involve restricting parking, which is something we invite neighborhood businesses to weigh in on," he said.