Steer Clear of Drivers Eating, Flossing or Giving Haircuts
OK, I’ll concede that most of us probably have been guilty of doing something outrageously unsafe while driving. We eat, we drink, we talk on the phone, we even read while cruising at 55 m.p.h.
Although it’s no excuse, the temptation is strong; most California commuters spend more time in traffic than they do on vacation.
I admit, I have been known to steer with my knees while flipping through my Thomas Bros. map book looking for the shortest route to my destination.
But reader Sidney L. Steinleger of Newhall wrote to remind me that this kind of behavior can be deadly, not only to such knuckleheads (I swear I have reformed), but to others on the road who are driving with both hands on the wheel.
Point well taken, Sidney. But your message needs to be passed on to many another knucklehead out there who is doing things on the road I wouldn’t do even if the car was parked in my living room.
The following is a list of activities motorists have engaged in while driving on our freeways, compiled by the California Highway Patrol based on observations, self-reporting and, of course, accident reports.
Drivers have been seen:
* Taking out contact lenses
* Changing a baby’s diaper
* Using dental floss
* Nursing a baby
* Reading a book at night with the interior light on
* Changing pantyhose
* Grooming a dog
* Playing a guitar
* Putting eyedrops into both eyes
* Spoon-feeding a baby with several jars of baby food on the dashboard
* Typing on a laptop computer propped on the dashboard
* Cutting a child’s hair
* Eating a bowl of cereal
* Removing a bra (her own) at 70 m.p.h.
* Reading and dictating into a hand-held tape recorder
* Changing clothes.
I guess I should be glad that the list does not include driving while reading my all-engrossing column. Or maybe I should be upset that it doesn’t.
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Dear Street Smart:
The southern end of the northern Hollywood Freeway (the 170) narrows from four to two lanes. This freeway has been a disaster for years. Often traffic backs up as far north as Victory Boulevard. This was a horrible design in the first place, but do I, my son and my grandchildren have to suffer with this problem forever? When will Caltrans do something to fix this longstanding slap in the face to all Valley drivers?
Jerry Feldman, Northridge
Dear Reader:
You won’t have to wait long to see some changes on that freeway, but whether it will move you faster depends on your driving habits.
Caltrans spokesman Russ Snyder said 6.1-mile-long car-pool lanes in both directions will be added soon to the Hollywood Freeway between the Golden State and the Ventura Freeway. Construction of the $10-million project will begin later this year and will be completed within the next two years, he said.
If you choose to car-pool with your son and your grandchildren, you will be able to use the new lanes and zip past all the congestion on the general-use lanes. If you drive alone, like more than 70% of Los Angeles motorists, you will have to continue dealing with this problem for a long time to come.
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Dear Street Smart:
One of the most disconcerting things that a driver can do legally is to leave the car’s turn signal on . . . and on . . . and on. Other drivers never know if the signal is real or if the person hasn’t yet decided where or when to turn, or what.
Robert Irving, Sun Valley
Dear Reader:
In my book, this ranks only behind people who groom dogs or change pantyhose while driving as the most annoying driving habits!
But getting back to turn signals, most newer cars have a self-canceling mechanism that switches the turn signal off after the turn is made. If, for some reason, the signal remains on, the cars also have an annoying clicking noise and a flashing light that reminds you to switch the wretched thing off.
For those of you paying more attention to your pet’s grooming needs, some new General Motors’ cars project an in-your-face image onto the car’s windshield to show you the car’s fuel level, speed and whether you left your turn signal on.
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Dear Street Smart:
My wife and I are having a disagreement. I say that the Hollywood Freeway northbound at the Ventura Freeway interchange is different than it used to be. I remember that the two left lanes used to have one lane only for transition to the northern Hollywood Freeway and one to either transition to the Ventura Freeway or to continue on the Hollywood Freeway.
Now, of course, the two left lanes are both only for transition, which my wife says is the way they always were. Who is correct?
Francis Moss, North Hollywood
Dear Reader:
I hate to get in the middle of a domestic squabble, so being the spineless weasel that I am, I called Caltrans engineer Jim McAllister and asked him to settle this debate. McAllister headed the Ventura Freeway widening project and knows just about everything you need to know about that freeway.
McAllister said one of the two left transition lanes was at one time an “either-or” lane. But he said the markings on the lanes were changed so that both are now only for continuing on the Hollywood Freeway. This was probably done, he said, to reduce the number of unsafe lane changes that take place on these “either-or” lanes.
“At the risk of incurring the wrath of the wife, I have to say that the husband is right,” he said. (Hey, Jim, better you get the wrath than me.)
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Dear Readers:
Speaking of catching someone’s wrath, a friend recently saw a car with a bumper sticker that probably would annoy the entire American automobile industry--along with fans of logic and consistency everywhere.
The sticker showed a Japanese flag eclipsing an American flag and the words “BUY AMERICAN BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.”
On a Toyota.
