‘Red Light, Move Right’ When Police Vehicle Is Behind

Dear Street Smart:

Recently I was driving in the diamond lane on a freeway at 65 mph when I noted a police car approaching rapidly behind me at probably 80 mph with lights flashing.

My question is: What is the motorist supposed to do?

You are not allowed to cross over the double white line to pull out of the way of the oncoming police car because that would be a violation of the diamond lane laws. And if one stops for an approaching police car with flashing red light, it’s a hazard in the diamond lane.

What I did was to continue on my pace of 65 mph and the police car eventually came up behind me, pulled to the right over the double white line barrier, and then cut back in front of me to proceed.

Please tell me what the law actually states, and what is the proper procedure in this situation.

E. A. Boston

Fullerton

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“Red light, move right,” according to Steve Kohler, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

In other words, Kohler said, when a law enforcement officer is approaching you with lights flashing, you are effectively under the direction of that officer and should pull over or get out of the way even if to do so would ordinarily be illegal and “not normally what you would do.”

“Inherent in the officer’s actions is that he’s directing you and it’s perfectly acceptable in that situation to move to the right,” Kohler said.

But only if it’s safe, he added.

“If the area to your right is congested so that you can’t move over,” Kohler said, “it’s all right to maintain your position until you can do it safely.”

Under the circumstances you describe, though, he said, “it probably would have been safer for everyone to pull over to the right.”

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Dear Street Smart:

If you take the Main Street exit on the eastbound Garden Grove Freeway and bear to the right, you will come upon a red yield sign. Half of the cars come to a stop; the other half slow down and continue through. Are the laws the same, or different, for red and yellow yield signs?

Allen Natkovitz

Huntington Beach

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While the law places slightly different emphasis on yellow and red yield signs, according to a CHP spokeswoman, your reaction to them should be the same.

A yellow yield sign is a warning, spokeswoman Pat Ryan said. Translation: It is highly recommended, but not absolutely required, that you yield to oncoming traffic. In other words, you don’t need to stop unless there is other traffic in your way, in which case it is up to you whether to stop or merge. Do the safe thing.

A red sign means thou shalt yield, or face the legal consequences.

In practice, though, the difference between the two colors may be insignificant, according to CHP spokesman Steve Kohler. If you fail to yield on a yellow sign and collide with someone, the investigating law enforcement officer will decide whether to cite you.

Kohler’s advice: If you come to a yield sign of either color, slow down to get a clear view of the situation. Then, if the coast is clear, keep going. And if it’s not, he suggests, just do what the sign says.

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Dear Street Smart:

When going north on the Costa Mesa Freeway and exiting to the Riverside Freeway east, there is a carpool/FasTrak lane.

My question is: Is it OK to use the carpool/FasTrak lane with one person if you have a transponder in the windshield, or do you have to have come from the 91 Freeway and already be in the FasTrak lane?

The sign just says, “91 FasTrak OK,” but doesn’t give any more information. It sure helps some days, even for a mile or so, to use that lane as I have a transponder, but I worry about getting a ticket if I have interpreted the signs wrong.

H. Alan Guzik

Orange

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Two things are going on here, according to Dave Simpson, a spokesman for the 91 Express Lanes.

The entrance you describe will indeed take you onto the private toll road running along the center of the Riverside Freeway from the end of the Costa Mesa Freeway to the Orange-Riverside county line. Anyone with a transponder, an electronic device mounted on their dashboard to register tolls, is entitled to access the road from here for a fare ranging from 25 cents to $2.50 per trip, depending on the time of day. You are not now in a carpool lane.

But, you have the option of moving over to the carpool lane if you have at least two passengers or you are driving a motorcycle or electric vehicle. If you use it alone, you may get a ticket.

* 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 David Haldane, c/o Street Smart, The Times Orange County, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, send faxes to 966-7711 or e-mail him David.Haldane@latimes.com. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted.