Trucks Bearing Loose Cargo Don’t Have Run of the Road

Dear Street Smart:

I am a frequent commuter on the 91 Freeway between Riverside and Orange counties. My car gets sandblasted every time I get caught behind a supposedly empty double trailer gravel truck. I thought they were required to cover the cargo bed to prevent this from happening. Aren’t they?

Thomas Collins

Fullerton

Absolutely, said Sandra Houston, a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol.

Any driver on a state highway whose load is “dropping, sifting, leaking, blowing, spilling, or otherwise escaping” is in violation of the California Vehicle Code.

The next time you take a gravel bath, Houston suggests, write down the offender’s license number and report it to the nearest CHP office. And call the trucker’s employer, often printed on the side of the truck.

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Dear Street Smart:

Why is it in the city of Stanton that whenever there’s an accident on Katella at Magnolia, or Katella at Beach, the Highway Patrol is there? I seldom see the local police (Orange County Sheriff’s Department) there. I always thought that the CHP only handles freeways and highway accidents.

Mario Luna

Fullerton

The CHP responds to calls on Beach Boulevard because it is a state highway. The intersection of Katella and Magnolia avenues, however, is odd: jurisdiction depends on where you crash.

The northwest corner is part of Stanton and therefore under the jurisdiction of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The southwest and southeast corners are in Garden Grove, patrolled by that department. And the northeast corner is in unincorporated county area, for which the CHP is responsible.

When someone calls 911 to report an accident, the call is routed to the agency where the call came from. That agency responds, then informs one of the other agencies if the accident turns out to be in its territory.

“If there’s a question of jurisdiction, first of all we take care of injuries,” said John Smiertelny, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department. “It really isn’t so complicated; we’re talking all the time, and there’s lots of cooperation.”

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Dear Street Smart:

You might ask if Caltrans has stopped replacing burned-out street lights. On a recent trip from San Diego to San Clemente, I could not find a single exit where all the lamps visible from the freeway were working. At every exit, I could see at least one lamp not illuminated.

W.G. Frick

San Clemente

Caltrans workers inspect freeway lighting about once a month, but there are many reasons they might leave a burned-out lightbulb alone for a while, said agency spokesman Albert Miranda.

One is economics. Replacing freeway bulbs often involves temporarily closing a lane to traffic, requiring equipment and personnel. So whenever possible, Miranda said, the agency waits until several bulbs on a particular stretch of freeway need replacing.

“We want to maximize efficiency,” he said.

In recent months, freeway construction in South County has caused some lights to go out. And, Miranda said, the agency is in a never-ending struggle against vandalism.

Safety is the priority. Any loss of lighting that puts drivers at risk is remedied immediately, he said.

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 Edition, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, send faxes to (714) 966-7711 or e-mail him at 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.