Motorist Wants to Write Up Highway Patrolman

Dear Street Smart:

The other day we were getting on the Santa Ana Freeway, and just ahead of us was a Porsche. As we got on the onramp, we had to pass a California Highway Patrol officer whom, I assume, the Porsche driver also saw.

The Porsche driver did not drive aggressively or speed, but the patrolman saw him and started following. As we got on the freeway, the patrolman quickly passed my car and another car in an attempt to get behind the Porsche. The cop was trying so hard (without flashing his lights) that he didn’t see a white VW bug, which he completely cut off. The VW had to swerve to avoid the officer and almost hit a truck. To my surprise, the patrolman then flashed his lights and pulled the VW over!

Assuming the officer was not pulling the VW driver over to apologize, what is the right thing for me to do? The “almost” accident would have occurred directly in front of us--and the officer was clearly at fault. We drove on, but got the officer’s license plate number. To whom should I complain?

Jorge Monasterio

San Clemente

You should send a letter to CHP Commissioner D.O. Helmick, PO Box 942898, Sacramento, CA 94298-0001. Include the day, time, location and detailed description of the incident. Also, of course, include the license number.

The CHP will investigate the incident, take appropriate action and inform you of the results.

Dear Street Smart:

Finally, we have a question for you, and were wondering what sort of response you’d have. A few of us in the county’s Production Services Department ride motorcycles. At various stoplights throughout the Southland, the motorcycle will not trip the sensor detecting that a vehicle is there waiting for the light. Many times the light will go two or three times around before another car trips the sensor for us to make the light change. Any thoughts or ideas?

Gerry Stull

Riverside

Most traffic sensors consist of “detector loops” embedded in the pavement. Basically, they are electric wires forming circles or squares 6 feet wide that create magnetic fields within their parameters. When a vehicle runs over the area, the magnetic field is disrupted, tripping a controller that changes the light.

What sometimes happens with motorcycles, says Ignacio Ochoa, Orange County’s traffic engineer, is that they miss the magnetic field entirely. In other instances, the sensor may need adjusting or may have been deactivated by work crews and never turned back on.

He has several suggestions. If you are approaching an intersection on a motorcycle, stay in the middle of the lane and don’t cross the “limit line” marking the beginning of the crosswalk. If you go too far and the light doesn’t change within a reasonable time, roll your bike back into the middle of the lane. And if the light still doesn’t change, Ochoa says, call his office at (714) 834-3483 or (714) 834-3484.

If the intersection is within county jurisdiction, a crew will arrive within an hour to adjust the detector. If it isn’t within county jurisdiction, Ochoa says, someone will tell you whom to call.

None of which, of course, will help you get to where you’re going on time. But it will certainly provide a good excuse for being late.

Dear Street Smart:

I have a question regarding radar guns. In two states--Colorado and Minnesota--a policeman coming toward me on the opposite side of the road turned around and stopped me, saying I was speeding. I was going 65 mph, on cruise control, and they insisted in both instances that I was going 85 mph. The Colorado policeman gave me a ticket; the one from Minnesota gave me a warning.

I had out-of-state license plates and these were two-lane secondary highways without any traffic. In both instances, no one else was on the road.

How accurate is radar when the police car is approaching you rather than stopped?

Helen Ruatti

Anaheim

It doesn’t make any difference whether the car carrying the radar gun is moving or stationary. While there may be some fractional difference in the resulting readings, said Anne Richards, a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol, the difference should be insignificant.

And for most law enforcement agencies, Richards says, radar is used only to confirm what an officer already suspects. “Radar is a tool that the officers use once they’ve done a visual estimate of speed,” she said. How do they estimate the speed of a car moving directly toward them? “That’s part of their training,” Richards said. “They have to do a certain number of valid visual sightings when they’re getting trained for radar.”

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.