Questions and Answers About Your Commute : Don’t Even Try Turning Left on Red Arrow

Dear Traffic Talk:

When making a turn from a left-turn-only lane and the green arrow turns red, why do you have to stop even when there is no oncoming traffic? Why can’t you go ahead and make that left turn and not impede (the nonexistent) oncoming traffic?

Why can’t the green arrow just go off (not turn red), which would tell us we not longer have an unobstructed left-turn capability? If there is no oncoming traffic, can you turn left against a red turn signal in any situation?

George A. Weinstock

Encino

Dear George:

The California Highway Patrol says turning against a red signal is a big no-no, George. Don’t even try it.

Left turn arrows--and left turn pockets, the city Department of Transportation’s term for the nifty little lanes where left turners wait--prevent gridlock, according to the department’s Vincent Moreno. On heavily traveled streets, where left turners often slink through under red lights if they are not stopped by a red-turn arrow, it’s just too dangerous to not have a red arrow.

But, if there’s an inappropriate left turn arrow, i.e. on a lightly traveled road, it was probably installed because someone requested it, Moreno said.

To make a counter-request, write to the city transportation engineer in your city.

San Fernando Valley residents in Los Angeles can write: Department of Transportation, City of Los Angeles, 19040 Vanowen St., Reseda 91335.

If it’s a state street or highway, write to Caltrans at 120 S. Spring St., Los Angeles 90012.

Dear Traffic Talk:

Help! Is there anything you can do about cars parking on Nordhoff between Zelzah and Reseda, on the north side of Nordhoff between 8:30 and 9 a.m. weekdays? There is no parking allowed, but by 8:45 the street is full of unoccupied cars or cars with people waiting till close to 9 a.m.

Yet at 3:45 p.m., the parking officers and towing vehicles are waiting and begin ticketing and towing immediately at 4 p.m.

The morning parking really messes up traffic west on Nordhoff.

Lynn Blumberg

Northridge

Dear Lynn:

First off, it’s always illegal to stop a car in a no-parking zone. It doesn’t matter if you’re still in the car or if the car’s engine is still running. Sometimes, parking enforcement officers will give you a break if you move on right away, but they have every right to ticket you, says Michael Inouye, parking administrator for the city Department of Transportation.

Most likely, parking enforcement agents don’t know that there is a problem because there are not as many people working that time of day as, say, later in the afternoon.

“That may not be a high enough priority for them, although they should be out there,” he said.

(Parking enforcement workers patrol 24 hours a day, but the numbers of patrol workers vary according to time of day and violation patterns.)

Inouye promised to look into it.

Traffic Talk appears Fridays in The Times Valley Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic in the Valley. Please write to Traffic Talk, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 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. Fax letters to (818) 772-3385. E-mail questions to valley@latimes.com