Things I need to know before driving in PDX (Portland: house, neighborhoods)

[sunscribble]

Originally Posted by union410

Be careful because police are cracking down on talking on a cell phone without a headset. And we have traffic cameras that will catch you running red lights.

Yes, be careful when you see a yellow light. The yellow lights can be rather short, and law enforcement tends to target the intersections with shorter lights since more people end up running those lights.

As union said, watch out for red light cameras and photo radar tickets. The speed limits are slower here than what many out-of-towners are used to, and speed limits are strictly enforced. You can refer to previous threads for more detailed discussion. Tickets are expensive here - common traffic violations will cost you over $280. Here is a page dedicated to the Beaverton Photo Radar Van.

"In 2006, the city issued 6,820 photo-radar citations, with a conviction rate of 74 percent. The city collected $886,500 in total revenue from photo radar. After paying the vendor, state and county assessments and programs costs, including officers' salaries, the city collected profit of $83,330. In addition, the city issued 2,938 citations for photo red-light violations" (Source: OregonLive).

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by sunscribble

Yes, be careful when you see a yellow light. The yellow lights can be rather short, and law enforcement tends to target the intersections with shorter lights since more people end up running those lights.

As union said, watch out for red light cameras and photo radar tickets. The speed limits are slower here than what many out-of-towners are used to, and speed limits are strictly enforced. You can refer to previous threads for more detailed discussion. Tickets are expensive here - common traffic violations will cost you over $280. Here is a page dedicated to the Beaverton Photo Radar Van.

"In 2006, the city issued 6,820 photo-radar citations, with a conviction rate of 74 percent. The city collected $886,500 in total revenue from photo radar. After paying the vendor, state and county assessments and programs costs, including officers' salaries, the city collected profit of $83,330. In addition, the city issued 2,938 citations for photo red-light violations" (Source: OregonLive).

Since then revenue on the vans has dropped significantly to the point that they no longer pay for themselves. (according to Beaverton's Mayor) So in a sense they've done what they were supposed to do, make people aware of the speed limits in certain areas.

[tanguerapdx]

Portland is challenging to drive in for all the reasons listed in this thread, plus another: In most parts of the city, cars are allowed to park "rightup" to the corners of the intersections, obscuring vision for cars/bikes wanting to proceed & for pedestrians looking for a clear time to cross. The hazard is particularly great when the vehicle at the corner is a van or a pick-up. I know of no other city in the country where this is allowed, but, well, Portland makes its own rules.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by tanguerapdx

Portland is challenging to drive in for all the reasons listed in this thread, plus another: In most parts of the city, cars are allowed to park "rightup" to the corners of the intersections, obscuring vision for cars/bikes wanting to proceed & for pedestrians looking for a clear time to cross. The hazard is particularly great when the vehicle at the corner is a van or a pick-up. I know of no other city in the country where this is allowed, but, well, Portland makes its own rules.

This has always been a pet peeve of mine as a pedestrian. In other cities cars get ticketed for parking this way.

[iamscott]

Originally Posted by sunscribble

"In 2006, the city issued 6,820 photo-radar citations, with a conviction rate of 74 percent. The city collected $886,500 in total revenue from photo radar. After paying the vendor, state and county assessments and programs costs, including officers' salaries, the city collected profit of $83,330. In addition, the city issued 2,938 citations for photo red-light violations" (Source: OregonLive).

That reminds me, i got one of those in the mail from the city of Newberg, kinda hard to fight if they have you on camera.

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by Minervah

This has always been a pet peeve of mine as a pedestrian. In other cities cars get ticketed for parking this way.

It's a peeve of mine as a pedestrian, as a cyclist, and as a motorist! It'd be nice to have that visibility at corners...

[ParadiseFalls]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

1. If you see a pedestrian or bicyclist waiting to cross the street, slam on your brakes and wave them across paying no heed to what's going on behind you, and ignoring what's coming down the road from the other direction.

2. Proper behaviour at a 4-way stop is to stop and wave everybody else through first; right of way has no meaning here.

3. The Left Lane on most multi-lane Oregon Highways is reserved for casual cruising five miles under the speed limit.

Pretty much. But seriously, be conscious of cyclists and pedestrians in a major way.

Let people in when they're trying to change lanes, and don't honk. They'll do the same for you.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by tanguerapdx

Portland is challenging to drive in for all the reasons listed in this thread, plus another: In most parts of the city, cars are allowed to park "rightup" to the corners of the intersections, obscuring vision for cars/bikes wanting to proceed & for pedestrians looking for a clear time to cross. The hazard is particularly great when the vehicle at the corner is a van or a pick-up. I know of no other city in the country where this is allowed, but, well, Portland makes its own rules.

It's actually not allowed, it's just not enforced consistently especially in low income and low-bike/pedestrian areas.

To makes things confusing, "small" cars are allowed to park there, but the law states that the vehicle can't block visibility. So there is a bit of leeway in interpretation too.

But, what you can do is call the Portland Police non-emergency line and make a complaint about the improperly parked vehicle that is blocking visibility. About 50% of the time they'll get a ticket (if an officer is in the area.) If the vehicle is the cause of an accident, they'll also get a ticket.

[davemess10]

Originally Posted by ParadiseFalls

Let people in when they're trying to change lanes, and don't honk. They'll do the same for you.

I would do this more often (and not honk) if people would just use their darn turn signal once in a while!!!!!

It's like they don't teach drivers in OR that the person in the lane not ending has the right of way and it is up to the person in the lane ending to find a safe position to merge. It's not the responsibility of the other lane to always let the other person in. And if you're coming at least use your turn signal!


I agree that parking at the corners bothers me as well.

[ParadiseFalls]

Another thing, which has probably been mentioned above but if so, I missed it in my skimming: a lot of residential intersections don't have stop signs. It's maddening. Near my house there's a 5-way intersection, two of which are coming around corners so you can't see the cars approaching, and NO ONE has a stop sign.

Originally Posted by davemess10

It's like they don't teach drivers in OR that the person in the lane not ending has the right of way and it is up to the person in the lane ending to find a safe position to merge.

That is true. A lot of times I can't get over to let them in, and I expect them to just wait and get behind me, but a lot of times they're totally oblivious. It's not like they're really cutting me off to get out of the ending lane, they're just sort of drifting in like I'm not there. It's terrifying sometimes because you more or less assume that if you're in the lane you can just go about your business and the people merging in should be careful, but it doesn't really work like that around here sometimes