Cross yellow line at your peril
Which do you hate more: getting stuck behind a parked
"It could be a postal delivery truck or a garbage truck or a cyclist" they're passing. "They just cross the yellow line and drive into oncoming traffic," Berube writes. "Several times I've had to pull right to avoid an accident. Would you please publish the legal way to deal with something impeding the flow of traffic before driving into oncoming traffic?"
The mailbag is chock full of new inquiries since the last time we checked, so today we hunt down some answers. For those who have written in with questions about traffic lights, signs and parking tickets, please stay tuned. A column on each topic will be appearing shortly.
Obstructed lane law
Berube posed the question, but we all know the correct answer, said Paul Cardalino, a retired Wareham captain who teaches motor vehicle law at the South Suburban Police Institute in Foxborough. Chapter 89, Section 1, of Massachusetts General Laws says it's illegal to cross a solid yellow line unless making a left-hand turn, period.
"Cross over the yellow line and it's a $100 fine. Failure to stay in marked lanes. It's that simple," Cardalino said.
Even if you're two feet behind the delivery truck, and the nearest opposing driver is 100 feet away, you'd technically be impeding traffic if you passed around, he said. "There's no first-come, first-served, rule."
It's unlikely any police officer will ticket you if you patiently wait until the road is clear and pass with caution. But should you cause an accident or hit a pedestrian while crossing a solid yellow line, you'll probably be found at fault.
A rotary head-scratcher
Mary Murphy of Duxbury describes the following tricky situation: As you approach a rotary, you see a car on the inside lane coming around the turn. You proceed into the rotary's outer lane, but as you do so, the car on the inside lane suddenly slides to the outer lane to exit. He doesn't signal while doing this, and your cars collide.
"Is there any rule about who is at fault? Is it one, or the other, or both?" Murphy writes.
The question's a goody because we're taught that drivers in the rotary have the right of way. At the same time, it's illegal to shift lanes without signaling.
Longtime traffic attorney Charles McGowan said the question of who's at fault hinges on whether the rotary's lanes are marked. "If you have two marked lanes, I would argue that if you are entering on the exterior lane, there is no need to yield to the vehicle on the interior lane. He's not coming at you," McGowan said.
Motorists are required to signal whenever changing lanes, even when in a rotary, he added. "And when you're changing a lane, you must yield the right of way to the person who's in the lane you're turning into," he said. So, the other guy's at fault if lanes are marked.
But what if the rotary doesn't have any pavement markings, like so many rotaries in Massachusetts?
"When you do not have lanes in a rotary," the entering car has "to yield," McGowan said. Even if the rotary is wide, in essence, it's just a single lane.
Parkway invaders
Reader Arthur Strang III did his homework before writing to me about commercial vehicles, trucks, and buses treading on state parkways.
"It is my understanding these vehicles may not be driven on the parkways because they are either: towing trailers; are over 5,000 pounds; are over 7 feet high; or have more than 12 seats," he wrote. He listed just two exceptions: commercial vehicles can travel on parkways when permitted by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, or when making deliveries to side streets.
"One, is this correct? Two, where is the enforcement?" Strang asked.
Sergeant Tom Fitzgerald, a veteran of the State Police's commercial vehicle enforcement section, said Strang is right on all counts. Still, his officers are given discretion as to how hard they come down on violators. They can fine violators as much as $200, or as little as $50, depending on which law they base the citation on. (Several apply.)
"The problem is most of the trucks are making deliveries in the neighborhoods. The vast majority are making deliveries to businesses or people served by that roadway," Fitzgerald said. "When we grew up as kids, UPS came maybe once a day. Now UPS, FedEx, DHL come three, four, five times a day. People don't go to the store anymore, the store comes to them. So we're going to have trucks."
Police have little tolerance for local companies who should know that parkways are off limits to drive-through traffic, Fitzgerald said. Out-of-state drivers whose computer mapping program takes them to the Lynn Fells Parkway, the Riverway, or Memorial Drive, however, might get a break.
What drives you crazy about local drivers? Is there a traffic rule you've always wondered about, or a pet peeve that never fails to annoy you? Send us a message about it at ciweek@globe.com. We'll check it out.
