Fast Lane or Not, Better Mind Your Freeway Manners

Picture yourself behind the wheel of your car, driving the speed limit in the fast lane. You are minding your own business, listening to your favorite Milli Vanilli tape, when some yahoo in a sports car swoops in behind you and starts flashing his lights for you to move over.

You should:

A) Signal and pull to the right, letting the yahoo pass;

B) Ignore the yahoo and continue in that lane at the same speed;

C) Fling the Milli Vanilli tape out the window and acquire better taste in music.

Before I give you the correct answer, some background is required:

In a previous column, I quoted a California Highway Patrol officer who said it is not against the law to drive the speed limit in the fast lane, even if you hold up faster traffic.

This prompted a flood of letters and phone calls, mostly from angry readers who insisted that the left lane is for passing, not for people driving the speed limit. They cited the California Vehicle Code, section 21654:

“Any vehicle proceeding upon a highway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic . . . shall be driven in the right-hand lane . . . “

In other words, pull to the right if you are holding up traffic.

However, there is also code section 22400, which seems to indicate that this doesn’t apply if you are driving the speed limit:

“No person shall drive upon a highway at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, unless the reduced speed is . . . in compliance with the law.”

To straighten this out, I called the California Highway Patrol headquarters in Sacramento and talked to CHP spokesman Sam Haynes.

Theoretically, he said, you could get a ticket for driving the speed limit in the fast lane if you are holding up traffic. But, practically speaking, a CHP officer would first pull over the speeder who is trying to get around you before going after you, Haynes said.

All this being said, it seems the correct response is left to your own sense of proper freeway etiquette. But my advice is that you pull over because--let’s admit it--many of us drive like yahoos when we are in a hurry, and some of those other yahoos are armed and crazy.

(By the way, no one would blame you if you select the option of ditching the Milli Vanilli tape.)

Dear Street Smart:

Why do L.A. police routinely ignore autos with expired licenses, no license plates, broken and/or missing lights, mufflers absent or dragging on the road, and a multitude of other unsafe and illegal conditions?

Roger V. Wing

Reseda

Dear Reader:

Listen, cops are too busy cracking down on gun-toting, graffiti-scrawling, drug-pushing maniacs to go around checking everyone’s muffler!

Sorry. For a minute there, former Police Chief Daryl F. Gates took over the column.

Getting back to your question, Los Angeles police do not, as a practice, look for mechanical violations, said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Walt Hogue of the Valley Traffic Division. If they see an obvious violation and they are not on their way to an emergency call, they will give you a “fix-it” ticket, which carries a $10 fine.

You may see many people getting away with violations because, for the most part, you are on your honor to keep your car in good condition. (Frightening, isn’t it?)

Dear Street Smart:

I live on Burbank Boulevard at Zelzah Avenue. There is no left-turn lane on westbound Burbank Boulevard turning into Zelzah. I have seen and heard so many accidents there because people keep getting slammed into from behind while waiting to turn left. Where can I write to get a left-turn lane here? Who makes those decisions? Does someone have to die here first?

Mary Richards

Encino

Dear Reader:

It’s not too hard to get the lane you seek, but you may have to sacrifice some street parking. (In this city, that is a big sacrifice.)

Ray Welbaum, the city’s traffic engineer for the West Valley, said you should make a written request to him at the Department of Transportation, 19040 Vanowen St., Reseda 91335. He will write a report on the number of accidents at that intersection, and if it’s as bad as you say, Welbaum said he will see to getting the left-turn lane approved. However, to make room for the extra lane, he said the city may have to take out a few parking spaces on either side of the street.

If you can live with that--and you can wait about a year for the lane to be approved and completed--you’ve got your wish, Mary.

Dear Street Smart:

You recently published a letter on how to report drivers who don’t have their children in car seats. Now, how do you report drivers who park in handicapped spots and don’t have the required handicapped sticker?

Robert S. Ellyn

Calabasas

Dear Reader:

Just call your city’s parking enforcement department and they will exact justice faster than instant karma. (The fine is about $125.)

In the Valley portion of the city of Los Angeles, the number is (818) 904-1421. In Calabasas, call the Sheriff’s Department at (818) 878-1808. Check directory assistance for the parking enforcement department in other cities.

Dear Street Smart:

Since you welcome your readers’ input, I would like to submit a personalized license plate that I found amusing. I saw a young lady driving a nifty Miata and the plate read, “ME GOTTA.”

Doris Bernstein

West Hills

Dear Reader:

Hey, if I could afford the payments, me would getta one, too.