Shooting Across 3 Lanes to Reach Freeway Is Unsettling at Best

Dear Street Smart:

As a conscientious driver, I am concerned about the intersection of Nisson Road and Red Hill Avenue in Tustin. Each day I drive west on Nisson, make a right turn on Red Hill and a left turn onto northbound Santa Ana Freeway.

The problem is that the distance from Nisson to the Santa Ana Freeway overpass is only about 100 feet. It is therefore necessary to cut across three lanes to be in the appropriate lane and thus be able to make a left turn onto the northbound freeway.

There is not sufficient time or space to turn into the right lane and make separate lane changes to the left. I wonder if one could be ticketed for that.

The same situation exists upon returning. Turning right from the freeway south, then left onto Nisson requires quickly cutting across several lanes in record time to be in the left-lane pocket.

I do this daily, but feel very uneasy about it. Do enlighten me, please.

Jacqueline M. Thomas

Tustin

You’re right about the scramble to get from Nisson to the freeway on-ramp, but there are no plans to change it, said Douglas Anderson, transportation engineer for Tustin. The lay of the land simply is not spacious enough to reconfigure the lanes and their relation to the freeway on-ramp, he said.

Anderson suggests you take Tustin Ranch Road as an alternate route to enter and exit the freeway. It may be a bit out of your way, but there is less traffic compared to Nisson, and sufficient room to make lane changes.

As for jetting across several lanes of traffic without yielding lane by lane, you would get a ticket if you cut somebody off in the process, said Sgt. Bill Fisher of the Tustin Police Department. He suggests you wait until there is no traffic to make your move or consider using an alternate route to Nisson.

Dear Street Smart:

I was following a car that had a sign in the back window indicating that it was delivering blood. It had on the bumper a vehicle number, obviously for the delivery company to keep track of which car is which in its fleet.

This vehicle had a regular license plate, not a commercial plate. Am I wrong or doesn’t a vehicle being used for a business require a more expensive commercial license registration?

I was under the impression the additional cost for a commercial registration was due to the above normal use of the highways. If the commercial plates are required, why are these delivery vehicles allowed to be registered as a personal vehicle, and who is supposed to enforce this? Also, does this pertain to the cars used by different stores and restaurants to deliver their products, i.e. Domino’s Pizza, etc.?

Dean Chikami

Cypress

Commercial licenses are required only for big rig trucks and vehicles that transport people for hire, such as taxicabs and airport shuttle buses. Drivers who use their cars to deliver things, such as pizza or dry cleaning or blood, need only have a regular vehicle registration, according to the California Vehicle Code.

Big trucks are classified as commercial vehicles by virtue of their weight, said Evan Noshoff, a spokesman for the California Department of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento. These vehicles are putting more stress on each mile of highway they cover than, say, a traveling salesman would when using his own car, he said.

Van pools or car pools that charge their passengers also are not considered commercial vehicles, Noshoff said.

Dear Street Smart:

We are often admonished by the press, TV, newspapers, etc., for using 911 for non-emergency problems, but I have never read or heard of any suggestions about reporting important, but non-emergency information and how to determine which is which.

With so many cellular phones on the road today, it seems important to me to report dangers that could become emergencies. Can you provide some help along this line?

Gladys M. Trousdale

Santa Ana

Your letter won a lot of Brownie points from the California Highway Patrol. They were pleased that someone cared enough to find out how not to overload the 911 system.

But the truth is, calling 911 often is your best option for reporting most kinds of problems you encounter on the freeways. Anything that could cause a death or injury or affect traffic flow on the freeway warrants a 911 call, said Steve Kohler, a spokesman for the CHP in Sacramento.

Debris in the road, a motorist who appears to be driving impaired, or a disabled vehicle all are legitimate 911 calls, Kohler said. On the other hand, you wouldn’t need to call 911 if you come upon a crash that looked as though it had been there awhile with people stopped or out of their cars, he said. This is an indication that the crash is not all that recent and someone else probably has reported it, he said.

If you spot debris on an Orange County freeway during regular business hours, you can avoid 911 and instead call Caltrans’ general number at (714) 724-2000. It can send a crew immediately. Caltrans also has a hot line, (714) 724-2500, which can be called during business hours about graffiti.

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All northbound lanes of the Santa Ana Freeway will be closed from the El Toro Y interchange to Alton Parkway from 11:59 tonight to 5 a.m. Tuesday. Caltrans workers will be doing construction as part of the El Toro Y interchange-Interstate 5 improvement project.

The suggested detour is the San Diego Freeway northbound to Irvine Center Drive, right on Irvine Center Drive, right on Alton Parkway, and back to the northbound Santa Ana Freeway. For up-to-the-minute information, call the Transportation Hot Line at (714) 724-2077.

Street Smart appears Mondays in The Times Orange County Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic, commuting and what makes it difficult to get around in Orange County. Include simple sketches if helpful. Letters may be published in upcoming columns. Please write to Caroline Lemke, c/o Street Smart, The Times Orange County, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted.