Drivers Should Get Into Habit of Signaling Lane Changes, Turns

Dear Street Smart:

This morning, a young man in a jeep darted in front of me during my daily commute on the San Diego Freeway. He failed to signal his lane change.

I was going 60 miles per hour and braked sharply to avoid hitting him. This caused cars behind me to hit their brakes, which could have caused a multiple car accident.

I would estimate that approximately 80% of my fellow freeway drivers do not use their turn signals, and often tailgate.

This group seems to consist of both men and women in their mid-20s to mid-40s. I can’t understand this phenomenon because these drivers are supposed to have benefited from formal driver education. Is this condition unique to Southern California?

Richard M. Vogel

Irvine

No one has ever accused California drivers of being overly polite, but the business of changing lanes without signaling is not unique to the southern portion of this state. No statistics are kept on collisions caused by unsafe lane changes, but the dangerous practice is common across the country, said Steve Kohler, a California Highway Patrol officer and agency spokesman in Sacramento.

“People everywhere are not as courteous or thoughtful as they used to be on the road,” Kohler said. “Not signaling for a lane change or a turn has just become a bad habit people have gotten into.”

As with any new habit, it would take just three to four weeks of conscientiously using turn signals for lane changes and turns to become accustomed to the practice, Kohler said. The process can also work in reverse: If you don’t use your turn signals for a few weeks, you get out of the habit, he said.

So, to all motorists out there: Use those turn signals. You can add this resolution to all the other New Year’s promises you are trying to keep.

Dear Street Smart:

Why is there no entrance to the car-pool lane at the convergence of the Garden Grove Freeway and Costa Mesa Freeway south? The on-ramp is beyond the nearest exit and the next entrance is not until 17th Street, a very congested area between the Garden Grove Freeway and the Santa Ana Freeway.

Peggy Markson

Fullerton

Recently the entrance / exit of the car-pool lane on the southbound Costa Mesa Freeway was changed to accommodate the final design of the improved Santa Ana / Costa Mesa freeway interchange, said Caltrans spokeswoman Rose Orem.

Caltrans eliminated one entrance / exit and added two locations to access the car-pool lane, Orem said. A new entrance / exit was added at the Costa Mesa / Garden Grove freeway interchange and will accommodate motorists wishing to exit at 17th and 4th streets.

The access located just north of 17th Street was originally an entrance only to the car-pool lane, Orem said. It was moved 1,200 feet south because motorists were leaving the car-pool lane and attempting to exit at the 17th Street off-ramp.

This change was to improve the operation of the freeway by allowing vehicles more distance to change lanes before traveling through the Santa Ana / Costa Mesa freeway interchange, which is currently under construction, Orem said.

Part of the congestion in that area of the freeway is because of the current construction, which should be alleviated with the completion of the interchange project in late 1995, she said.

Regular riders of the Orange County Transportation Authority’s Commuter Rail train service must send in their bonus ticket applications by Feb. 15. The commuter rail bonus ticket program is set to end March 28, when Metrolink commuter train service begins serving Orange County.

The bonus ticket program was designed to encourage ridership on OCTA’s daily round-trip train between San Juan Capistrano and Los Angeles. To receive bonus tickets, regular riders who normally purchase 10-trip tickets can mail in four 10-trip ticket receipts and receive eight one-way tickets at no charge. Monthly requests for the bonus tickets have usually numbered between 140 and 160.

The transition to Metrolink service on March 28 will mean an end for the program because of Metrolink’s lower fares and added trains. Bonus tickets will be accepted on OCTA’s commuter rail train until March 25.

Bonus tickets can be redeemed by mailing four 10-trip ticket receipts to the Orange County Transportation Authority, Commuter Rail Bonus Ticket Program, 550 S. Main St., P.O. Box 14184, Orange, Calif. 92613-1584. Riders can also receive more information by calling (714) 636-RIDE.