Driver impatience sometimes conflicts with rules of the road

TAHLEQUAH — Most folks consider driving a privilege and not a right. Still, the number of driving infractions that occur on a daily basis are too numerous to count.

Tahlequah Police Chief Nate King said the problem his officers encounter is not so much inattentive drivers as it is impatient drivers.

“A lot of our crashes are a result of people being in a hurry,” he said. “Everyone is going somewhere and we just see a lot of impatience.”

According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel, 37,000 people die in road crashes each year in the U.S. Often, failure to obey traffic signs can be the difference in whether someone lives or dies from a crash.

Even though everyone who has a driver’s license was at one point required to take a driving exam, the steps a driver should take at traffic signs can often be forgotten.

King said that in the past two years, about 5 percent of Tahlequah Police Department’s overall tickets have been for failure to stop at a “stop” sign.

“Technically, just stopping at a stop sign is not all you have to do,” he said. “You stop at a stop sign and make sure it’s clear to proceed. So it’s not just stopping, but also yielding to oncoming traffic.”

Drivers must come to a complete stop at intersections marked with a “stop” sign, and they also must stop before it, said King.

“If you’ve gone past the stop sign, you’ve driven too far,” he said. “Also, we see a lot of people who stop, and are just a little too quick to take off.”

Slow down

Another sign that often goes ignored is the “yield” sign. According to the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety’s Drivers Manual, when coming up to a “yield” sign, drivers should “slow down and be ready to stop,” if needed. Oncoming vehicles should be allowed to pass before crossing or entering the flow of traffic.”

“You do need to slow for safety’s sake,” said King. “However, it does not require a full stop, unless the right of way is not clear. You have to stop for the traffic, not the sign itself.”

Right on red

Turning right at red lights can also be a misinterpreted aspect of Oklahoma driving regulations.

“It basically turns into a stop sign, in a sense,” said King. “You can turn right, but you’re required to stop before doing so. Now if there’s an arrow there, you’re not allowed to turn right on red. You have to wait for the arrow to turn green.”

Lines and arrows

While most people understand what to do at stop signs, a multitude of other traffic signs and devices aren’t as clearly comprehended. For instance, many warning signs are typically labeled with arrows and black lines.

A yellow sign with a lowercase “T” in the middle means another road crosses the highway up ahead. The state drivers’ manual states, “Look right and left for other traffic.”

If a yellow sign has a picture of a car and tire tracks following it, that means the road can be slippery when wet. The state drivers manual would have Oklahomans brake gently to help avoid skids. It also says to “avoid sudden turns, acceleration or stops.”

The meaning behind the “no left turn” sign can also remain obscure among many roadsters in Oklahoma. If a sign has a arrow pointing left, placed within a red circle with a line through it, that means a driver cannot turn left, according to the state drivers’ manual. For signs that actually read “no left turn,” they do not mean drivers can turn left. In fact, they mean the opposite — drivers may not turn left.

Soft shoulder

“One of the other things that we see the most problems with is that shoulders are not turn lanes,” said King. “We see people who get in the shoulder to turn right off the bypass, mostly, and that’s actually an illegal right-hand turn.”

If a sign reads soft shoulder, that means the dirt on the side of the pavement is soft and can be dangerous, according to the state drivers’ manual. People should use caution when driving near “soft shoulders.”

Those who are caught violating traffic laws won’t usually get off without dents in their wallets. The fine for failure to obey traffic control devices in Tahlequah is currently $149 through municipal court.

“That just went up,” King said. “Up until January, they were at $99. We went to a lot more focus-based traffic enforcement this last year. Just like when we were kids, what causes us to change our behavior is when the punishment has enough teeth. We use education at times, but education is not going to work for everybody, so we also use punishment. Sometimes that negative consequence is what changes people.”

If a driver is pulled over in Tahlequah, it doesn’t automatically warrant a citation. Sometimes, an officer will let a driver off with a written or verbal warning. After all, King said, there have studies showing the average driver can’t go more than two minutes without making some type of minor traffic infraction.

“We leave that up to the officers,” said King. “We’re not just writing tickets to everybody we stop. Our goal isn’t to make somebody pay $149. Our goal is to get them to not run that red light. Now when I was a street cop, and I knew someone had gotten a written warning, or if we check their driving record and see they’ve received some citations, more than likely, they were going to get a ticket from me.”

Safety measures

While Tahlequah police patrol the roads to keep citizens driving safely, King said his officers make sure to drive safely themselves.

“We’re actually just about to put a policy in place for our guys that’s going to limit the speed they can drive,” he said. “They won’t be able to exceed the speed limit by more than 20 mph, with a maximum speed of 75 mph, no matter what. So even on the bypass, they can’t drive faster than 75 mph. In your neighborhoods and whatnot, they’ll be limited to 45 mph.”

King said limiting the speed his officers can drive won’t have much of an impact on response times. In many cases, the time gained by driving 85 mph instead of 50 mph can be less than 10 seconds. The policy could possibly go into effect within the next month.

“Of course, with the Fraternal Order of Police, we’ll enter into discussions with them on that,” King said. “But I think it will be a good safety measure. Not only for our officers, but for the citizens.”