Beach Blvd. Segment Will Be Re-Striped--One of These Days

Dear Street Smart:

Do you know if there are any plans to improve the lane markings along Beach Boulevard between Imperial Highway and Whittier Boulevard in La Habra? The boulevard is marked for two lanes in each direction, but the right lane is so wide that drivers treat it as if it were two and sometimes three lanes.

It is very confusing and dangerous. You never know when someone will go ahead and decide there is enough room to pass you on the right. I have almost been hit twice preparing to make a right turn from the right lane as someone speeds by between my car and the curb.

Elizabeth Murray, La Habra

Caltrans agrees that Beach Boulevard needs to be re-striped in the area you mention and has submitted a proposal to re-stripe the boulevard from two to three lanes between Imperial Highway and Whittier Boulevard, said Caltrans spokeswoman Rose Orem.

This does not mean the project will happen overnight. Once it is funded, the earliest the work might begin is early 1995, Orem said.

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Dear Street Smart:

Over the past several years, I have noticed that all sizes of trucks (including 18 wheelers) use the No. 2 lane (second from the left) on a four-lane freeway. Under the California Vehicle Code, are trucks of any size (other than pickup trucks) allowed to drive in the No. 2 lane of a four-lane freeway? What size trucks are allowed in the No. 1 and 2 lanes?

Paul Quong, Orange

You are right about large trucks being restricted to slower lanes of freeway traffic, said Officer Steve Kohler of the California Highway Patrol in Sacramento. And the CHP issues thousands of citations a year to truckers who violate the rule about this.

The California Vehicle Code states that any truck or tractor with three or more axles, or any truck or tractor pulling another vehicle, is restricted to the right two lanes (the No. 3 and 4 lanes).

Smaller trucks, like UPS delivery trucks and U-Haul moving vans, can travel in any lane, Kohler said.

In 1992, the CHP issued 12,662 citations to drivers of large trucks for driving in the faster lanes, Kohler said. And in the first six months of 1993, 5,804 drivers were cited.

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Dear Street Smart:

I own a small pickup truck which is equipped with only two seat belts. You had mentioned that riding in the bed of the truck is now illegal.

How are parents with just a pickup and a child able to go anywhere without breaking the law?

Patrick Sweeney, Fountain Valley

There is no quick fix to your predicament. This month in California it became illegal for anyone, regardless of age, to ride in the bed, or rear cargo area, of an open pickup truck. Drivers and passengers alike can be cited for violating this law.

Authorities are cracking down hard on this one because there’s no denying how unsafe it is to ride in the bed of a pickup truck. CHP Commissioner Maury Hannigan reported last month that 86 people were fatally injured while riding in the beds of pickup trucks in 1991 and 1992.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the only way now to legally carry passengers in a truck bed is to retrofit the truck with seats and seat belts that meet federal standards.

But this is easier said than done, because those written standards don’t exist. It is further complicated because the CHP, which is responsible for enforcing this new law, is not in the position to decide whether retrofitted truck beds meet federal standards, said Steve Kohler of the CHP.

Passengers may ride in a truck bed without benefit of a seat or seat belt if the truck has a camper shell over the truck bed, said Kohler said. No law prohibits passengers from riding in this manner and there would be no citation for riding without a seat belt. The caveat here, however, is that neither the CHP nor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration consider it safe to travel unbelted, even if a camper shell provides some overhead protection.