My Tender Fender, and a School Bus Caution

Got hit the other day. Which would be bad enough, except I was about 50 feet from my car at the time. Car versus pedestrian--hardly sounds fair, does it?

It was lunchtime and I had just enjoyed some health food (a meatball sub) and was mulling my afternoon deadlines as I walked through a busy shopping center parking lot over at Fairview Street and MacArthur Boulevard in Santa Ana.

I never saw it coming. The Jeep had passed by me and, apparently jockeying for a coveted parking space, suddenly slammed in reverse and thumped me pretty good. Sadly, my cup of Mountain Dew did not survive the impact.

The driver was nice enough, apologizing and offering to buy me another soda, and other than a slight throb in my shoulder, no harm was done. But I was still shaking 10 minutes later as I arrived back at the office.

It occurred to me how easy it is to become a statistic in the crowded neighborhoods and cities we live in, the packed freeways on which we zoom. It’s a realization that has probably crossed your mind after a close call or some grisly news report.

In the past 30 years, only one day has passed in California without a traffic fatality. On May 1, 1991, the full 24 hours ticked by with every driver arriving alive, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. Maybe we’ll be fortunate to enjoy one of those days again sometime soon.

This deep thinking inspired me to cook up a new motto for this column: “Be careful. We’re all in this together.”

Hmmm. Maybe that’s too corny. How about: “Always look behind you before slamming your Jeep into reverse, you bozo.”

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BUS STOPS: One of the veteran reporters from our business section dropped by my desk last Wednesday to gripe about financial losses. “Four hundred and six dollars!” he moaned in his trademark booming voice. “Now that hurts.”

He waved an envelope addressed to Orange County Municipal Court and explained that his daughter got hit with the big fine under the state’s 6-month-old school bus law. The 16-year-old failed to stop for a bus that had pulled to the curb on the opposite side of the street in Villa Park. An Orange County sheriff’s deputy saw the blunder and wrote her up. More than the fine, the moving violation means pricier car insurance. “My daughter’s six-month payment will go up $167,” my co-worker explained. (Gee, these business guys are great with the numbers, huh?) He went on to say, graciously, that he couldn’t be too upset with his daughter because he was a little foggy on the law himself.

We’ve heard that a lot from readers lately, most recently from Jon Calder in Santa Ana, who left a list of questions on our voicemail last week. “When do you have to stop? When does opposing traffic have to stop? What exactly is a divided highway? I’m on the road all the time and I need to know what to do.”

We can relate, Jon. Here’s the lowdown:

* Bus drivers must now flip on flashing red lights every time the bus stops to pick up or drop off children (the old law instructed drivers to use the warning lights only if they anticipated a child crossing the street).

* If you are driving behind or beside the bus, going in the same direction, and the red lights come on, you must come to a complete stop and wait until the lights are shut off.

* If you are driving in the opposite direction of the bus, it’s a little more complicated: You must stop unless you are on a divided highway. What is that? A divided highway has a median divider that is no less than 2 feet in width or a double set of double-yellow lines down the middle (the same kind that mark off carpool lanes).

* The law is called the Thomas Edward Lanni School Bus Safety Act of 1997 and was named for a 7-year-old Laguna Niguel boy who was hit and killed four years ago by a truck just after stepping off a school bus. His dad led the crusade to enact the law, which brings California in line with the stricter regulations in other states.

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TIP OF THE WEEK: Picking a car repair shop can be daunting. An unscrupulous mechanic can jack up bills with bogus charges and unneeded work. The Automobile Club of Southern California has compiled a list of top-rated repair shops (see box) and offers these tips to screen prospective mechanics:

* Make sure the facility has a state license. And check the walls for other certificates: Documents from groups such as the Automotive Service Council add to the credibility of a shop. Ask if your mechanic has training and certification, such as Automotive Service Excellence certificates.

* Ask in advance if the shop offers warranties on its work. A 12,000-mile or 12-month warranty is a good standard to seek.

* Get a written estimate before you get any work done. State law says you are entitled to one and that it cannot be exceeded without customer approval.

* You also can call the Better Business Bureau of the Southland for a shop’s complaint history--or to file a complaint if you’ve had a bad experience. The number in Orange County is (714) 527-0680.

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The Roads Scholar wants to hear your insights, stories and questions about traffic, the commuting experience and Orange County transportation issues.

Call Geoff Boucher at (714) 966-5724, send e-mail to him at geoff.boucher@latimes.com or mail letters to Geoff Boucher, c/o The Roads Scholar, The Times Orange County, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Please include your full name, hometown and phone number.

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The Callbox

LAST WEEK’S QUESTION: What is the worst view from an Orange County freeway?

“The smoky industrial area on the south side of the 91 Freeway at Lemon Street. This area more resembles the I-5 through the city of Commerce than Fullerton.”

--Steve Rayment, Laguna Niguel

“Going north on the I-5, north of the Orange Crush. The farther north you go, the worse it gets. There is nothing to see, just ugly.”

--Irena Wyegold, Irvine

“It’s not really in Orange County, but when you’re coming from LAX, those ugly Wilmington petroleum companies. You pick somebody up at the airport and that’s what they get to see on the way south to Orange County.”

--Karen King, Aliso Viejo

“Anywhere there’s construction.”

--Tom Garcia, Santa Ana

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION: What’s the most dangerous or difficult Orange County intersection?

Phone in your comments to The Callbox at (714) 966-5724 or send e-mail to geoff.boucher@latimes.com.