What a Concept! Obeying Traffic Signs to Lessen Danger

Dear Street Smart:

Has anyone noticed the dangerous situation created when cars on Newport Boulevard merge with traffic exiting the newly extended Costa Mesa Freeway? I’ve had several near misses, particularly during off-hours when traffic is light. Cars on Newport Boulevard ignore the sign telling them to yield--frequently they don’t even slow down but barrel through at a fast clip.

When you exit the Costa Mesa Freeway, your vision is blocked, so you can’t even see merging cars until it is too late. I suspect that vision is blocked on Newport Boulevard, too, but that’s no excuse for ignoring the yield sign. If you aren’t aware of the potential danger, it’s a setup for a serious accident.

JoAnne Baer El Toro People have noticed. The Costa Mesa Police Department has gotten several phone calls from motorists concerned about the potential for an accident there.

In response, another yield sign was installed to provide more warning to motorists on Newport Boulevard, and a barrier was removed from the median to improve visibility, according to Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Tom Winter.

More signs won’t help, according to Caltrans. There’s already sufficient warning, and engineers believe that additional signs would be distracting, according to spokesman Albert Miranda.

“A proliferation of signs in the area isn’t going to have an impact on people because there are too many for them to read,” Miranda said.

Costa Mesa police say Caltrans is right. The signs are clear; people just need to do what they say.

“I totally agree with Caltrans. We’ve addressed the situation. We’ve gone and looked at it and made several improvements over how it used to be,” Winter said. “It’s a matter of the drivers on Newport Boulevard failing to obey the signs.”

Not surprisingly, Costa Mesa police have been targeting the area for enforcement. No doubt the sight of a few police officers will encourage scofflaws to change their ways.

It is hoped that drivers will become accustomed to the new setup there and obey those signs--or at least be fearful of officers ready to give them a ticket.

Dear Street Smart:

If there’s no place to pull over when you hear sirens, what are you supposed to do? You can’t go faster than the speed limit, and ambulances, firetrucks, etc., can’t pass you the other way because it could cause an accident.

Kim Sanders Loara High School, Anaheim To quote from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”: Don’t panic!

When motorists hear sirens, they should pull over to the right as quickly and safely as possible, said Capt. Dan Young, of the Orange County Fire Department. But if you can’t pull over in this manner, then it’s best simply to stop.

Don’t worry about getting out of the way. The fire and emergency crews are used to threading their ways through traffic, and they’re best helped when motorists calmly pull over or stop, Young said.

“It’s not the end of the world. You don’t need to slam on your brakes,” Young said. Though drivers may think the crews are racing by at blinding speed, the emergency teams are actually carefully watching the road, slowing for intersections and heavy traffic.

“We creep along and get ready for anything,” Young said.

If need be, emergency vehicles will drive in the wrong direction on a roadway, Young said. All the more reason drivers should remember that traffic on both sides of the road must pull over when a siren is heard.

Emergency vehicles will never drive on the right side around traffic. Cars might move right at any moment in an attempt to pull over, causing an accident, Young said.

Of all the situations that come up, left turns may be the trickiest. Young said some motorists will try to finish the turn, while others will try to reach the right side of the roadway. In both cases, they could collide with other cars or block emergency vehicles. Again, simply stopping may be the best action, Young said.

By the way, your question is a good one, as are several others that Street Smart received from your drivers’ education class out there in Anaheim. We’ll sprinkle them in from time to time.

A Street Smart reminder: It’s Halloween this week, so drivers might want to take it a little bit slower and a little bit more cautious on the way home Thursday night. Lots of youngsters will be out in their neighborhood, probably more concerned about trick-or-treating than watching out for cars.

Street Smart appears Mondays in the Times Orange County Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic, commuting and what makes it difficult to get around in Orange County. Include simple sketches if helpful. Letters will be published in upcoming columns. Please write to Danny Sullivan, c/o Street Smart, The Times Orange County, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted.