Is ‘rat running’ legal in Washington traffic? Here’s what state law says
When you’re stuck in a line of cars at a red light, you might feel tempted to cut through a gas station or parking lot to get around the clogged intersection.
It’s a practice called “rat running,” and if you’ve been driving long enough, you’ve likely seen someone do it — or even done it yourself.
Is it legal? Here’s a look at what the law says in Washington about “rat running”:
Can you cut through a parking lot to skip a red light in Washington?
If you search the “rules of the road” section of the Revised Code of Washington for the phrase “rat running,” you won’t find it.
That doesn’t mean the practice won’t land you in trouble.
If a driver uses a gas station as a through-way, “It could be negligent driving or reckless driving, depending on the circumstances,” Washington State Patrol Trooper Kameron Watts, a public information officer covering Thurston and Pierce counties, told The Olympian by phone.
Those violations can come with hefty penalties.
Reckless driving, for example, is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and a maximum of 364 days in state jail.
Which cities have banned rat running in Washington?
Several communities in Washington explicitly outlaw rat running, including one eastern Washington city that just put a new law on the books.
The Kennewick City Council recently voted 5-1 to approve an ordinance making it illegal to cut through a parking lot or driveway to avoid an intersection or a traffic control device.
The penalty for doing so in Kennewick is $250.
The new rule became effective Sept. 24, the Tri-City Herald previously reported.
Similar rules are in place in several other Washington cities, including Bellevue, Bellingham, Bonney Lake, Enumclaw, Federal Way, Fife, Lakewood, Renton and Snohomish.
The city of Olympia doesn’t appear to have a section addressing rat running in its code.
Neither does the city of Tacoma.
However, rat running can violate other sections of Tacoma’s city code, such as those requiring drivers to yield to pedestrians on sidewalks or stop before pulling from a private road or driveway onto a public street, Tacoma Police Department Officer Shelbie Boyd told The Olympian by phone.
Former McClatchy reporters Rosemary Montalvo and Jared Gendron contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Is ‘rat running’ legal in Washington traffic? Here’s what state law says."
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