Speeding Ticket "Hot Spots"

Speeding remains the most ticketed highway violation around the Puget Sound. The violations are concentrated to very specific areas you could call ticket “hot spots”. Troopers admittedly target areas known for trouble to reduce fatal accidents, but why specific miles within those target areas see a sudden spike in ticket activity is less scientific: An…

Read More

HOV Ticket Price Increase

Beginning this month, the cost of a HOV (carpool lane) violation ticket has increased to $136. The WSP says that HOV violations are the number one citizen reported driving violation, with an average of 80 calls and emails each day. Since 2012 the number of HOV violations has increased by 77%. Through May of this…

Read More

Trial Victory in a Driving While License Suspended 2° case

Yesterday I won a Driving While License Suspended (DWLS) 2nd Degree trial because the Prosecution failed to provide it’s key driving record evidence to the defense before the trial started. That is a serious violation of the court rules and the rules of evidence. Yet people defending themselves without a lawyer, and even some defense lawyers sometimes,…

Read More

Law Day 2015

On Friday, June 5, 2015 I helped the local court present its annual Law Day presentation for over 800 fifth graders of the Edmonds School District. This was my 29th year doing this. It is a lot of work, but a labor of love. It has grown from 60 kids in 1987 to over 800+…

Read More

A DUI stop and your Miranda rights in Lynnwood

You really do have the right to remain silent if you are stopped by police in Lynnwood or even any other city in Washington State.. As cliché as this may sound, it really is 100% true. An arresting officer can ask you as many questions as they want but never feel compelled to answer anything.…

Read More

Proposed Lane Splitting in Washington

Motorcyclists are pushing House Bill 1515, which would allow “lane splitting”. That would mean a motorcycle could drive in between cars when traffic was congested. The proposed law says that traffic as a whole must be going no more than 35 miles per hour and the motorcycle could only go 10 mph over that. The…

Read More

Move Over.. Its the Law

In 2011 a law was passed requiring motorists to “move over”. When a driver in the right lane comes within 200 feet of an emergency vehicle (police, fire, aid, tow truck or DOT truck) they must move to the next lane, as long as it is safe to do so. If they are unable to…

Read More

Marijuana: What is legal, what is not

Recreational Marijuana stores opened last summer all around Washington State. Please remember that while it is legal to purchase and smoke, it is still illegal to drive while intoxicated. THC levels at greater than or equal to 5 nanograms per milliliter of blood is considered intoxicated and will result in a DUI charge. Here is a…

Read More

Roadside Marijuana Test

Washington and other states are looking into adopting a simple roadside saliva test for marijuana impairment. This saliva testing would attempt to determine a subject’s level of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana that actually affects driving. The saliva test would be used to determine if the driver’s THC blood concentration was over the legal…

Read More