That Run-Down Feeling Gets Felt All Over the Freeway System

Dear Street Smart:

I have run into a problem recently on the San Joaquin Hills toll road--coyotes. In fact, I almost hit a second one this week. I have seen more dead animals on this road than on any other highway. There doesn’t seem to be enough fencing to keep the wild animals and traffic apart. Night and early morning are especially dangerous due to the lack of lighting for the road. The Transportation Corridor Agencies say it’s up to Caltrans. Caltrans said they would call me back. I’m still waiting.

Frank Alvarez

Monarch Beach

A Caltrans spokeswoman was unable to confirm your assertion that an inordinate number of coyotes is being killed on the toll road. On average, according to Maureena Duran-Rojas, one or two dead animals are picked up off the road each month--a number roughly comparable to the amount of road kill on other major Orange County highways.

“When you are driving throughout the freeway system,” she said, “you are going to, from time to time, come across a dead animal. This [one or two a month] is not unusually high.”

Paul Glaab, a spokesman for the TCA, said that the toll road is equipped with four underpasses built specifically to provide points where wildlife can cross the road without being hit. “They are monitored by video camera, and we believe that they are being used,” he said. “We have seen all types of wildlife, including coyotes, using the under-crossings. We are confident that they are working and have been very successful.”

Dear Street Smart:

What is the rationale of the DMV for insisting on front license plates? I know that Massachusetts does not require the front plates . . . . It seems to me that front plates are pretty useless. I saw numerous cars on the road without front plates. Some of the newer vehicles do not even come with a front plate mount. Looks like this rule is largely ignored. What is the penalty for not having one?

Patrick Mok

Irvine

Front-end license plates are required for the same reason that rear plates are required: identification. While most IDs are indeed made from rear license plates, said Kent Milton, a spokesman for the CHP, there are some instances in which front-end identification is helpful for purposes of law enforcement.

Examples include hit-and-run situations in which someone gets rear-ended and, as frequently happens, the front license plate of the offending vehicle falls off; instances in which a car is moving toward a law enforcement officer; and cases in which an officer observes a violation through a rear-view mirror.

“It’s very helpful to have it coming and going,” Milton said.

Getting caught without a front-end plate, in most cases, results in a “fix-it ticket”--one that imposes no fine but requires a driver to make the proper repairs. In cases where the violation is deemed willful or deliberate, Milton said, a fine of as much as $76 can be imposed.

Dear Street Smart:

I received a speeding ticket while driving in another state. This violation has now appeared on my California driving record, and I am incurring increased insurance costs as a result.

My question: Would I be eligible to go to traffic school in California to have this violation removed from my driving record? If yes: Is there a time limit to complete the class? If I get a ticket in the future while out of state, what steps should be taken to go to traffic school? Does the fact that the violation is on my record prevent me from now going to traffic school?

Jerry DeCiccio

Irvine

The California DMV will allow you to remove only one infraction from your driving record every 18 months as a reward for attending traffic school. That infraction can be removed even if it already appears on your record.

Your situation is somewhat complicated, however, by the fact that the violation occurred out of state. Only the court of jurisdiction in the area where you were ticketed can decide whether you can attend a California traffic school and in what period of time. States have various policies.

Evan Nossoff, a DMV spokesman, suggests that you write the court in question and make a formal request. Should a similar situation arise in the future, he says, your best bet is to “drive over to the courthouse and make arrangements immediately.”

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.