Traffic Q & A: Federal guides used for states yellow lines

Question: Reader Gordon Benson has a question about the letter of the law.

JOHN HENRIKSON; Staff writer

Published: 06/28/10 12:05 am | Updated: 06/28/10 6:30 am

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Question: Reader Gordon Benson has a question about the letter of the law.

“Everybody seems to know that it’s illegal to pass where there is a double yellow line,” he writes.

But when he looks at the state law – the Revised Code of Washington – he finds no mention of double yellow lines.

“The RCW says that the DOT and the local authorities may determine dangerous passing areas and mark the pavement, but it does not say what those markings are.

“So, is it illegal to pass where there is a double yellow line? If so, where does it say that?”

Answer: The standards for no-passing zone markings – along with most traffic signs and pavement markings – are not spelled out in the code.

Instead, RCW 47.36.090 states that “Standard federal road markers shall be placed on state highways in the manner requested by the department of transportation of the United States.”

The more detailed Washington Administrative Code 468-95-010 specifies that the state Department of Transportation should use the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways.

The highly detailed and illustrated publication functions as both a regulatory authority and an engineering bible for federal, state and local jurisdictions.

If you happen to have a copy – or look it up online – you’ll find the double-line standard in Section 3B.01 “Yellow Centerline Pavement Markings and Warrants.” It calls for “two-direction no-passing zone markings consisting of two normal solid yellow lines where crossing the centerline markings for passing is prohibited for traffic traveling in either direction.”

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