Drivers Who Pass on the Right Sometimes in the Wrong

Dear Street Smart:

Is it legal for my fellow motorists to pass me on the right at an intersection?

I frequently drive on Moorpark Street between Lankershim and Van Nuys boulevards. Some of the major intersections have posted “Right Turn Only” lanes, while others do not. But it doesn’t seem to make a difference. While I sit patiently waiting for the light to change, others use the curb lane to pass everyone.

It know it’s frustrating, but is it legal?

Robert Dean

Van Nuys

Dear Reader:

It truly is frustrating. While cruising along Ventura Boulevard a few weeks ago, I watched a guy in a red Porsche pass cars on the right at one intersection after another.

It made me so infuriated, I considered giving him a taste of his own medicine by passing him on the right. But I decided not to lower myself to his level. Besides, my junky Toyota didn’t have the horsepower to catch him.

It is legal to pass on the right but only under certain limited circumstances.

For example, the state Vehicle Code allows passing on the right when the car in front of you is making a left turn or when there is more than one lane in the same direction and the pavement is wide enough to pass on the right.

“In no event shall movement be made by driving off the paved or main-traveled portion of the roadway,” according to the code manual.

Motor Vehicles Department spokesman Bill Madison noted that the Vehicle Code also says you can pass only if it can be done safely, and the situation you describe doesn’t sound safe.

“Obviously that is a dangerous move because you are shooting across an intersection around the right,” he said.

I just hope the guy in the red Porsche reads this. But then again, if I had a red Porsche, I probably wouldn’t spend my free time reading traffic columns. I’d be hanging around the movie studios trying to get Michelle Pfeiffer to notice me and my car.

Dear Street Smart:

I live in Studio City and when I’m coming home from Hollywood, I take the Ventura Boulevard exit ramp from the Hollywood Freeway. About halfway through the long, sweeping exit ramp, there is an area with a number of metal plates bolted to the cement that are awfully jarring.

I thought they would get fixed, as they have been sticking up for many months now.

Ron Raschke

Studio City

Dear Reader:

Remember the big Bay Area quake in 1989 that caused the Nimitz Freeway to slam down on dozens of cars like a huge press, killing 41 people?

Well, those plates on the overpass are covering work that is being done to seismically retrofit the off-ramp so that it won’t falter when the “Really, Really Big One” hits here.

I’m not sure what kind of work is being done.

The ramp was closed for a couple of days last week while workers tightened the bolts on those plates to make sure they don’t fly off and decapitate someone. Caltrans spokeswoman Pat Reid said the seismic work should be completed and the plates should be removed in four to six weeks.

But Reid didn’t know why the contractor took so long to finish the job.

Dear Street Smart:

What is the problem with Empire Avenue south of Burbank Airport? It has not been paved in years and because the pavement markings are so faded it’s hard to tell if there is one lane in each direction or two.

Amy Mahony

Burbank

Dear Reader:

Empire Avenue looks so bad you might think the jets are landing on that street instead of on the runways at Burbank Airport.

But there is hope for Empire. Mike Moss, a senior civil engineer for the city of Burbank, said the city is composing a list of the city’s 10 worst streets so that the City Council can approve funding to repair those that need it most. Moss said he expects Empire will be on that list.

As a short-term solution, he said the city plans to add a thin layer of slurry--a mixture of sand and asphalt--to the road next year to smooth out the rough spots.

As for the pavement markings, Moss said inspectors who looked at the street did agree that the lines need to be repainted. It will probably happen within a month. Once that’s done, it should be clear that the road is only one lane in each direction.

Dear Street Smart:

There is a new left-turn arrow on the signal at the corner of Vineland Avenue and Ventura Boulevard in Studio City and since March this light has not been operating. I was wondering when this signal will be turned on.

Robert McDonnell

Studio City

Dear Reader:

Installing the new left-turn arrow you describe was a requirement the city imposed on a developer to “mitigate” traffic generated by a strip mall the developer built nearby on Ventura Boulevard. The developer was also required to install sensors in the pavement to tell the light when cars are waiting to turn.

But this strip mall, like many others in this city, has not done well. Most of the stores remain vacant. Because the strip mall has generated little, if any, traffic so far, the city is not pressing the developer too hard to get the signal operating.

Nonetheless, Tom Jones, a city traffic engineer, said he expects the signal will be in operation in about a month or so, once the sensors are installed and new pavement markings are applied on the street.

But, hey, what’s the big deal about having a turn signal that we can’t use? In Los Angeles, we have air we can’t breathe, politicians we can’t trust and streets we can’t walk.

I’m sorry. For a minute there, my journalistic cynicism got the better of me. L. A. is not that bad a place. Hey, where else can you find people of every race, creed and religion all being miserable in the same place?

Street Smart appears Mondays in The Times Valley Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic, commuting and what makes it difficult to get around the Valley. Include simple sketches if helpful. Letters may be published in upcoming columns. Please write to Hugo Martin, c/o Street Smart, The Times Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie Street, Chatsworth, Calif., 91311. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited and no anonymous letters will be accepted. To record your comments call (818) 772-3303. Send fax letters to (818) 382-6651.