DRIVETIME MAHATMA: Pull aside if backing up 5 cars

Dear Mahatma: There is a law in Washington state that if five cars are piled up behind you, pull over. One sign actually stated it. This is in response to a recent letter you shared on this subject. I thought it would be great to add this tidbit of information to your plethora of data. We are vacationing in Washington state. --Dana

Dear Dana: We did indeed have a question in this column about this topic, namely a requirement for a driver to safely pull over if five vehicles are backed up behind him. We said we knew of no such Arkansas law.

We then pleaded further ignorance, which is our specialty.

Here is some language from Revised Code of Washington 46.62.427: "On a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe because of traffic in the opposite direction or other conditions, a slow-moving vehicle, behind which five or more vehicles are formed in a line, shall turn off the roadway wherever sufficient area for a safe turn-out exists ... "

Absent a law in our small wonderful state, let's all agree that common driving courtesy compels such a turn off when safe.

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Vanity plate seen around town: PRTYLDY

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Dear All-knowing Mahatma: Is there a difference between red, blue and black handicap license plates or placards? -- Confused and Kerfuddled

Dear Confused: Is that a play on kerfuffle? Meaning commotion or fuss, kerfuffle was a favorite word of a favorite colleague of ours. He also liked jolly. What a wild man.

Actually, we don't know much, except where to go for answers, in this case the Department of Finance and Administration, in the form of spokesman Scott Hardin.

Hardin says all handicap plates are currently issued in black, and have been for several years. Previously, they were blue.

A decision was made recently to go back to blue, based on feedback from several organizations. Being cheap, sometimes a good thing in government, DF&A will keep issuing the black plates until they're all gone. And the new plates won't have the word "Disabled."

Now to the other colors.

A red hanging placard indicates it's temporary. A blue hanging placard indicates it's permanent.

Our Mama, bless her heart, had a blue placard. She'd put it in her purse to use whenever someone took her out for a wild time. Or lunch. Whichever came first.

Hey, Yo: Are there plans to resurface Arkansas 365 from Morgan to Levy in North Little Rock. Water stands in the indentations left by years of travel in the same spot. -- Andrew

Dear Andrew: There are indeed plans. Sort of.

David Nilles of the Arkansas Department of Transportation tells us that resurfacing of Arkansas 365 was submitted last year for the 2023 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, and also submitted to the proposed 10-year Pavement Improvement Program.

But while the highway obviously needs an overlay, there is as yet no specific date for that work.

Vanity plate seen in Fort Smith: GR8SCTT

Fjfellone@gmail.com

Metro on 10/26/2019

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