Searching for Solutions to ‘Epidemic’ of Horn Honking

Dear Street Smart:

We have an epidemic of horn honking in our neighborhood. It goes on all hours of the day and night.

When people come to pick up a neighbor, they announce their arrival by honking. We have suggested that a more considerate and lawful approach would be to get out of the car and knock on the door.

One neighbor even honks to summon her housekeeper when she arrives home.

The California Vehicle Code says a driver should sound the horn “when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation.” It also states: “The horn shall not otherwise be used, except as a theft alarm system.”

The indiscriminate use of a horn is inconsiderate and a nuisance. It trivializes its intended purposes. Perhaps some of your readers have been confronted with horn honkers and have a solution--other than Valium or ear plugs.

Eric J. Brownson, Valley Village

Dear Reader:

Honking a car horn to vent your anger or to save yourself a walk to the front door is indeed illegal. Unfortunately, catching flagrant horn honkers is probably not the highest priority for local police officers. Solving murders and robberies comes first.

Nevertheless, in your neighborhood, the Los Angeles Police Department’s new community-based enforcement program may be able to help. James O’Riley, a senior lead officer at the North Hollywood Division, urges residents in his area to write down the license number of any driver who repeatedly speeds, loiters or disturbs the peace by honking a horn.

Riley typically sends a letter to the car’s registered owner, warning that the driver will be cited if the illegal behavior continues. That often halts the problem. But if it continues, an officer may be sent to the neighborhood at a time when the violations most often occur, he says.

Valley Village residents such as yourself can start this process by calling the community relations staff at the North Hollywood station, (818) 989-8838.

If you’d rather not involve the police, you might ask a Neighborhood Watch chapter or other community group to help you curb the noise by urging the offender to quiet down.

Finally, as you suggested, our readers may know some other tactics--aside from ear plugs and Valium--that can be used to quiet the neighborhood horn honkers. How about it, readers? If you have a suggestion, contact Street Smart via the directions at the end of this column, and we’ll print the best ideas.

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Dear Street Smart:

You have published the toll-free numbers we can call to report cars emitting excessive exhaust and to report drivers who do not have their small children secured in child seats.

Why is there no phone number to report vehicles that do not have current registration tags on their license plates? Or is there such a number?

Saul H. Davis, Studio City

Dear Reader:

Once upon a time, the California Department of Motor Vehicles did run a toll-free hot line that allowed you to anonymously report cars with expired plates. But the line was discontinued, says DMV spokesman Bill Madison, because “we did not get enough calls on it to justify the cost.”

Even so, judging by recent letters to Street Smart, drivers with expired plates are a source of great irritation to many motorists who pay their registration fees on time.

And people who don’t pay pose a big problem for the state. “We have about a million delinquent vehicle registration renewal accounts every year, valued at $187 million,” Madison says.

His agency is trying to recover more of this money. In September, a new state law turned over the DMV’s overdue collections to the state Franchise Tax Board, which has broader legal powers, such as going after a driver’s bank account, real estate or income tax refunds.

The Tax Board has estimated that it can collect more than $51 million in overdue vehicle registration fees annually, Madison says.

Although there is no hot line to report outdated plates, you can call attention to suspected violators by writing to DMV, Revenue Services-Policy and Procedures, MS H148, 2415 First Ave., Sacramento, CA 95818. Include the license number and make of the car, plus the driver’s address, if you know it.

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Dear Street Smart:

The Simi Valley Freeway serves thousands of commuters in the Chatsworth area every day, including several large businesses such as The Times. But the Winnetka Avenue off-ramp is still closed.

This badly needed exit has already been built and would feed into a four-lane street that runs north and south through the Valley, except for a few short blocks in an expensive private neighborhood between the freeway and Devonshire Street.

Can you find out why this taxpayer-funded resource is not available to the public?

John Bruther, Woodland Hills

Dear Reader:

This question pops up quite often, possibly because so many Valley motorists pass the “ramps to nowhere” every day.

Here’s a quick refresher: The $1-million ramps, built in 1982, were never opened because of a dispute about whether Winnetka Avenue should be extended south of the freeway through a gated community, Monteria Estates. The city did not own the right of way, and the homeowners did not want a stream of cars in their midst.

Greig Smith, chief deputy for Councilman Hal Bernson, says the city could force a land sale through eminent domain powers. But he says the cost of the property and the legal expenses would be far too high. Thus, there are no plans to extend Winnetka Avenue south of the freeway in the near future.

However, the Porter Ranch Development Co., which is building a huge housing and commercial project north of the freeway, is obligated to pay for completion of the northbound freeway ramps at Winnetka.

The work is linked to the sale of nearby houses. Because of the sluggish real estate market, the ramps probably won’t be open for another 12 to 18 months, estimates Larry Calemine, a spokesman for the developer.

When the ramps do open, you’ll be able to drive north on Winnetka--but you still won’t be able to go south through Monteria Estates. For southbound drivers, the builder will extend Rinaldi Street from Corbin Avenue to Winnetka. You’ll have to take Rinaldi east to Tampa Avenue and then head south.

In the more distant future, Rinaldi will be extended west to Mason Avenue, which also runs north and south. And when some new houses are built along Corbin Avenue, just south of the freeway, the developers will be required to finish that road, adding yet another north-south route.