Literally, as I opened this thread, I was sending my 16 year old out to drive his car around the neighborhood a few times. It hasn’t been driven for a week and a half and I’m worried the battery is going to die. We are not under shelter in place orders, though, at this time. It seems to me that it might be a good idea to keep the cars in working order if we need to get somewhere essential.
The info I saw in the Oregonian this morning seemed to suggest that joyrides were out. However, I’d look at the governor’s actual order for guidance, not a news agency’s interpretation of it.
Even in the event that cops were going to start pulling over anyone they saw driving on the road, here’s how that interaction would most likely carry out;
“Can I ask you where you’re going?”
“To the store.”
“Alright. Drive safe!”
Exactly this provision also appears in the order by six of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties (plus Santa Cruz County). I’m not so sure if the statewide order by Governor Newsom has this same language. So in the Bay Area at least, joyriding is out.
Outdoor recreational activities are allowed (walking, biking, etc.) and apparently allowed in public areas and defined as “Essential Activity”. So, by the above terms, travel to and from such places must also be permitted.
As everybody has noticed, of course, it’s difficult to enforce literally, and probably will not be enforced in any heavy-handed way in most cases.
Pro-tip: Whenever you go out, always have a written (and plausible looking) shopping list in your pocket. If you get stopped and asked to show your papers, wave that.
If you just like to go out joyriding (and I am one such), you probably like to drive longish distances cross-country (meaning, beyond your own local area). If you get stopped someplace away from your local area, that might be a problem.
The S. F. Bay Area order also has language regarding travel into the region from outside and travel from the region to outside. I don’t have the text in front of me now, but it’s something along these lines:
You can travel into or out of the region to get back home. All other travel into or out of the region is limited or discouraged in some way (as I said, I don’t have the text right in front of me).
I’d suggest not doing it if it’s not something essential.
I’m staying inside. I enjoy going outside, but I can’t really do it right now (because of pre-existing medical conditions) and I understand that I could be a risk to myself and others.
We just sent about 60 engineers to two other states, driving, since they can’t fly. That’s not permitted. I wonder how that argument would have gone, since helping 3M isn’t on the permitted uses list.
In practical terms it is important to drive vehicles up to normal operating temperature at least every couple weeks. So yeah just drive within the traffic laws and if you get pulled over, say you’re going to get food.
Not in Chicago…according to Mayor Lightfoot
I’d like to think saying “We’re working with 3M to make N95 masks” would elicit a “Bless you! Drive safely!” assuming that’s what the engineers are actually doing.
Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick, that article manages :rolleyes: to omit the crucial context. The Lakefront Trail and the 606 Trail, two busy multi-use off-street trails that can be like expressways of joggers, walkers, strollers, and bicyclists on a summer Saturday, had nearly summer-Saturday crowds yesterday because the weather was pleasant. Considering that pedestrians and cyclists routinely pass within a foot of each other on the Lakefront Trail on a busy day, inherently nobody was practicing proper social distancing.
But except for the single mention of the lakefront in quoting the mayor, the Washington unExaminer (the unexamined news is not worth reading) managed to omit all of that from the text of the article. I’m sure that the linked CBS2 article explains the context, but IMHO not having even a sentence in the article itself mentioning the huge crowds along the lakefront and 606 Trail yesterday was the WE “journalists” skewing the story to their own ends.
Long drives with no pit stops? I’m used to flushing toilets so it changes things, but yeah, love to drive. HOld it or make accomdations, either way plan ahead.
More accidents happen at home than anywhere else
Every year there are approximately 6,000 deaths as the result of a home accident
More than two million children under the age of 15 experience accidents in and around the home every year, for which they are taken to accident and emergency units
Children under the age of five and people over 65 (particularly those over 75) are most likely to have an accident at home
Over 76,000 children under the age of 14 are admitted for treatment of which over 40% are under 5 years of age
Falls are the most common accidents, which can cause serious injury at any time of life. The risk increases with age
I agree. So get away from accident prone areas and do some good. find a restaurant that’s off the beaten path and spread the wealth. Now’s the time to tip your favorite server as if their financial well being is at stake.
Your state (Ohio) still has sit-down eateries with servers? 
I’ve not had away-from-home food since before the closure orders here and all those I notice online provide only delivery (but not to our ruggedly remote site) or take-out. One is offering free “community meal” take-outs on Saturday. They’ll accept donations.
The stay-at-home order from my county health officer (pdf) specifies “CESSATION OF ALL NON-ESSENTIAL TRAVEL” and “Failure to comply with any of the provisions of the Order constitutes an imminent thread to public health.” That sounds like joyriding is verboten so don’t go cruising the main.
Why might a cop suspect joyriding? What are the telltales?
Heck no, but we still have carryout. some of the servers are retained to help with that. Didn’t make that clear.
In my state we have the county listed on the license plate. So If I wander over to another county they can tell right away.
I might have to make a run with my motorcycle. It has carburetors and needs to be run or it gets all gummed up. That or I’ll have to drain the carbs. Probably end up doing that although I can hear other bikes on the road.
If any common sense prevails, the police are not likely to be clogging the courts with trivial cases. Expect a warning, at worst, unless you are seen as an habitual violator. If in doubt, carry a Rx with you and say you are going to the drug store.
The police in my state put out a big press release announcing that they are not questioning people about their destinations, demanding to see documents, or anything of that nature, and that their emphasis is on education and now punishment.
I cannot see why simply going for a drive, for fun, would be worthy of a traffic stop by police. Unless one had broken some traffic law of course, or broken a curfew.
Esentials? If you were stopped, what would be wrong with stating that you’re going to XYZ Market at such-and-such location, because you heard they were still open, and they’ve always had the best produce/meat/deli/whatever, and you want to get some?
Driving is fun. I like it myself. But if I leave home all alone, drive somewhere, don’t stop for anything, then turn around, and drive home, without breaking any traffic laws, where’s the harm?
Missed edit window: That should have read “education and not punishment”. I blame the autocorrect on my phone which somehow always manages to pick the wrong its/it’s every time I use either word.
I’ve been in low-mobility states like that. Here, many hill folk necessarily run to or from adjacent counties for work or supplies. Some of my small rural county’s residents haven’t been in California long enough to lose their out-of-state plates. Neighbors’ plate frames brag of being bought at dealerships all over the region.
That spiffy sportster speeding along the scenic Sierra Nevada highway? Might be an uphill resident dashing 60+ miles to the nearest pharmacy. Yes, a cop could scan a suspicious place to see if it’s far afield from its home. But they probably have higher priorities.