Driver Gets Nowhere With Warning of Highway Danger

Dear Street Smart

On a Sunday evening last month, I was traveling on the Long Beach Freeway when some individual dropped a large piece of concrete on the hood of my Honda from the Imperial Highway overcrossing. If I had been going a little faster, it would have gone through my windshield and perhaps killed me.

I got off the freeway and called 911, hoping an officer could be sent to apprehend the person responsible. I was put on hold, then someone else came on the phone, and I was again told to hold. After waiting five minutes, I realized I was getting nowhere and put the phone down.

The next day, I still tried to report it. After seven phone calls, I was told I had to go in person to the California Highway Patrol. Could you tell me what I should have done?

Arthur M. Evison, Placentia

You should have headed straight for one of the emergency call boxes that are mounted along the freeway, usually every quarter-mile, according to the CHP office in that area.

“The call box is probably closer,” said Lt. Jay Redding of the East Los Angeles office. “It usually takes time to exit the freeway and find a phone.”

Call boxes also put you directly in touch with CHP dispatch center, which sends officers out to incidents, Redding said.

However, even if you had used a call box, it’s unlikely an officer could have arrived in time to catch the culprit, Redding said. But you still should call, on the off chance that the person hangs around. Also, the CHP will notify the local police of a potential problem in that area.

Redding said that motorists should scan overcrossings as they approach, watching for anyone who might try to drop objects on traffic below.

“It’s not an everyday occurrence, but it happens often enough that it is not a surprise and that it is not unusual, unfortunately,” he said.

Getting into the habit of scanning should be no harder than watching your mirrors, Redding said. Drivers should watch for people paused on the bridge, and change lanes if they seem a threat.

Dear Street Smart:

I often turn right from Avenida de la Carlota to El Toro Road in Laguna Hills in order to enter Interstate 5. In the past, it was possible to turn from both the right-hand and middle lane on Avenida de la Carlota. But last month, the street was re-striped so that you can no longer turn from the middle lane.

This is a ridiculous move by the county, due to the fact that very few cars continue across El Toro Road. Could you please explain to me why this was done and let the county know that this was a terrible mistake?

Gregory P. May, Aliso Viejo

Orange County Traffic Engineer Ignacio Ochoa agrees that there is a heavy demand to turn right at that intersection, but he said the change was necessary to reduce accidents.

Before the change, through traffic had to use the leftmost lane on Avenida de la Carlota. This puts drivers directly at odds with traffic turning left from the opposite direction, and accidents were resulting. Giving through traffic the middle lane on Avenida de la Carlota solves this problem, Ochoa said.

To ease troubles for traffic turning right, that lane now gets a green arrow following the green light, so that cars can keep moving. So while a queue may develop along Avenida de la Carlota before the green light appears, the green light and arrow combined manage to clear this backup, Ochoa said.

He added that a fair amount of traffic does continue across El Toro Road, so a workable through lane is necessary. He also said that he would have his staff monitor that intersection, and that signal time might be increased if necessary.

Dear Street Smart:

I’m sure the measurements you gave last week for the “Do Not Block” intersection signs to be installed on Imperial Highway at Village Drive in La Habra should read 30 inches by 24 inches, not 30 feet by 24 feet. Signs that large would certainly get the attention of the so-called culprits who block the intersection.

Roy W. Holt, La Habra

You are correct. Caltrans said the measurements it sent should have been in inches, not feet. Too bad; as you say, those bigger signs would probably do the trick!