If you’ve driven around Washington for any amount of time, you’ve probably complained about traffic. I certainly have. But after spending thousands of hours on our roads, I think we’ve created a habit of blaming only one thing.

“It’s because too many people moved here.”

“It’s because nobody knows how to drive.”

“It’s because the state never builds roads.”

The reality is probably all three.

Every traffic jam has a story. Sometimes it’s a highway that outgrew its design. Sometimes it’s a driver who never learned the proper maneuver. Most of the time, it’s both. If we want to fix traffic in Washington, we need to stop arguing over which one is to blame and start fixing both.

And before anyone gets mad at me, yes, there are absolutely places in Washington that almost require you to pull some kind of janky maneuver just to make it through. Sometimes I wonder if the engineer who designed an interchange sat back and said, “Good luck, everybody.”

But then there are plenty of situations where the road isn’t the biggest problem – the people using it are.

The US 2 Trestle

Take the US 2 Trestle for example.

The trestle itself gets blamed for almost everything, but I don’t necessarily think it’s the biggest issue. Sure, I’d love to see three lanes in each direction someday because the region has simply outgrown what existed decades ago. The road was sufficient when it was built. The population wasn’t.

The real trouble is what happens at each end.

Coming off I-5 in the afternoon, it’s not uncommon to find the exit ramp completely stopped, sometimes backed all the way onto the interstate itself. You’re traveling freeway speeds only to discover traffic sitting still around a curve. That’s not just frustrating – that’s dangerous.

Then you reach the east side.

Traffic from Lake Stevens funnels together while drivers entering from SR 204 are trying to merge around a corner. The advisory speed might say 35 mph, but let’s be honest, many people are doing 50 or more. The result is hesitation, panic braking, aggressive merges, and another bottleneck.

And if there’s a wreck?

You might as well pull out your navigation app and find another route, because even driving ten miles out of your way may save you time.

Then There’s SR 522

Now let’s talk about SR 522.

There’s roughly a four-mile stretch between the Snohomish River Bridge and Paradise Lake Road where what is otherwise a four-lane highway suddenly becomes what feels like a two-lane country road.

During normal traffic, it’s manageable.

During rush hour, that fifteen-minute drive suddenly becomes forty-five minutes to an hour.

People think they’re clever by taking side roads after the bridge.

So does everyone else.

Congratulations – you’ve all successfully created traffic somewhere else.

Even worse, because that stretch consists of only two opposing lanes with no median, one collision can effectively shut down the entire corridor for hours. The detours become congested because everyone has the exact same idea.

That’s not simply a driver problem.

That’s an infrastructure problem.

Washington has grown tremendously over the past several decades. Some of our highways simply haven’t kept up.

But Infrastructure Isn’t Everything

Even if we widened SR 522 tomorrow, we’d still have traffic.

Why?

Because many people simply were never taught how traffic actually works.

Take zipper merging.

Every day you’ll see someone use the available lane until its intended merge point while another driver becomes furious because they think the first driver is “cutting the line.”

But that’s exactly what the lane was designed for.

The entire purpose of having two lanes is to use both lanes until the merge point and then alternate vehicles one by one like the teeth of a zipper. Instead, people merge half a mile early while others intentionally block the lane because they think they’re enforcing fairness.

The result?

More congestion.

More frustration.

More road rage.

Ironically, the person everyone thinks is “cutting” may actually be the one using the roadway exactly as traffic engineers intended.

Let’s Talk About Roundabouts

I know this opinion may upset some people, but I love roundabouts.

When they’re designed correctly and people know how to use them, they’re fantastic. They keep traffic moving, reduce severe collisions, and eliminate unnecessary waiting that comes with traditional intersections.

The problem isn’t the roundabout.

It’s that many drivers have absolutely no idea how to use one.

I was fortunate enough to learn about them in driver’s education, but many people on our roads earned their licenses thirty or forty years ago. Roundabouts simply weren’t common in Washington then. They were never taught.

Then there are visitors or newer drivers who approach one and simply improvise.

I’ve even ridden with friends who treat entering a roundabout like launching onto a roller coaster, they just jump in and hope everyone else figures it out.

That’s terrifying.

Most multi-lane roundabouts have signs well in advance telling drivers exactly which lane they should be in depending on where they’re going. If everyone positioned themselves correctly ahead of time and yielded appropriately, traffic would move remarkably well.

Instead, many drivers wait until the last second, change lanes inside the roundabout, or hesitate so much that they create backups for everyone behind them.

Again, this isn’t necessarily an infrastructure problem.

It’s an education problem.

The Most Ignored Feature on the Car

Let’s also have a conversation about turn signals.

Do you know how many people simply don’t use them anymore?

There’s an old joke that BMW drivers never use turn signals. Personally, I think I’ve seen more Nissan drivers skip them lately. But I’m not here to stereotype anyone.

I’m here to try and solve a problem.

Turn signals exist to communicate your intentions to everyone around you.

Driving is essentially a giant team activity where thousands of strangers are trying to predict what everyone else is about to do. A turn signal removes that guesswork.

Without one, the driver next to you has no idea whether you’re staying in your lane or suddenly planning to occupy theirs.

Then people wonder why they get honked at or flipped off after forcing their way into traffic.

Ironically, using a blinker often makes merging easier. If another driver knows what you’re trying to do, there’s a good chance they’ll leave a little room or even wave you over.

But if you simply shove your way into traffic without communicating, don’t be surprised when people assume you’re just being inconsiderate.

Something as simple as flipping a small lever on your steering column could prevent countless misunderstandings and collisions every single day.

I honestly believe we need to remind people that blinkers aren’t optional equipment. They’re communication devices.

Maybe We Need Continuing Driver Education

Here’s an idea that I know some people won’t like.

If someone receives a moving violation, perhaps paying the fine shouldn’t be the end of it.

Maybe every moving violation should require a refresher driving course and a knowledge examination within ninety days in order to maintain that driver’s license.

Not as punishment.

As education.

A driver’s license isn’t a trophy you earn at sixteen and keep forever. It’s a certification that you’re trusted to operate a 4,000-pound machine around the public.

We require continuing education for electricians, contractors, pilots, and medical professionals because standards change, technology evolves, and people naturally forget things over time.

Why should driving, which almost everyone does every single day, be any different?

Washington’s roads have changed dramatically over the last several decades. Roundabouts have become common. Traffic volumes have exploded. Highway designs have evolved. Yet someone can earn a driver’s license and potentially drive for fifty years without ever reviewing updated laws or modern driving practices.

Continuing education could solve two problems at once.

First, it gives people an opportunity to relearn concepts they may never have been taught in the first place. Many drivers never learned proper zipper merging, multi-lane roundabout etiquette, or even how to effectively use acceleration lanes. That’s not necessarily their fault – it simply wasn’t emphasized when they learned to drive.

Second, education itself can become a deterrent.

Right now, many moving violations end with someone paying a fine or appearing in court. For some people, that’s simply the cost of getting caught. The lesson becomes, “I need to avoid another ticket,” instead of, “I need to become a better driver.”

But time is valuable.

If every moving violation also required scheduling and attending a refresher course, spending several hours reviewing safe driving practices, and passing an examination within ninety days, many drivers might think twice before weaving through traffic, driving aggressively, or making reckless decisions.

The consequence would no longer be purely financial.

It would be educational and inconvenient.

And that’s exactly the point.

The goal shouldn’t be to collect more revenue through citations.

The goal should be fewer citations because people are driving better.

I don’t believe most dangerous drivers wake up every morning intending to make everyone else’s commute miserable. Some certainly do, but many simply develop bad habits over years of driving without correction.

If we can correct those habits before they become collisions, everyone benefits.

The Solution Isn’t One Thing

We’re going to need better infrastructure.

We’re going to need highways that match the population they’re serving.

We’re going to need smarter interchanges, safer merges, and projects that eliminate obvious bottlenecks.

But we’re also going to need better drivers.

Every unnecessary brake tap creates a ripple effect behind it. Every distracted driver delays hundreds of strangers. Every avoidable collision steals hours from thousands of people simply trying to get home to their families.

Traffic isn’t just an engineering problem.

It’s a people problem.

And people problems are fixable.

I’m not asking for a world where traffic disappears. That’s unrealistic.

I’m asking for a world where our infrastructure matches our growth, our driver education matches modern road design, and using a turn signal becomes so normal that we stop acting like it’s optional.

If we can build smarter roads while also creating smarter drivers, Washington won’t just move faster.

It’ll become a safer, less stressful, and better place for everyone who shares the road.