Speed Limit Should Be the Priority

Dear Traffic Talk:

California state law requires that slower cars get to the right of faster cars. However, I have heard that if a car is moving at the stated speed limit, say 65 mph, that it doesn’t have to pull over for cars that want to pass because it will have to exceed the limit to do so. There are exceptions, of course, as when emergency vehicles approach. Any comment from the California Highway Patrol?

--Carl Ehrlich

Calabasas

Dear Carl:

It’s more important to follow the posted speed limit and let motorists pass you than to keep with the flow of traffic, said CHP Officer Lou Aviles. But if you’re driving at a speed that is impeding traffic and causing cars to go around you, you may be going too slow, Aviles said. In that scenario, he said, you may be issued a citation.

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Dear Traffic Talk:

At the intersection of White Oak Avenue and Rinaldi Street in Granada Hills, the street sensors that permit northbound drivers on White Oak to turn left onto Rinaldi seem to be inoperative some of the time, or at least the timing delay is much too long. Even when the detectors seem to be working, it often takes a very long time before the signal changes.

Many times, the signal will only change after I back up to roll back over [the sensors] a second time after one to two minutes of waiting. If I get out and push the pedestrian button to cross the street, the signal changes almost immediately. What can be done?

--Tom Webber

Granada Hills

Dear Tom:

During weekday morning and afternoon peak hours, Rinaldi gets more green time because it seems to serve as an alternate route for many drivers who usually use the Ronald Reagan Freeway, said engineer Bill J. Shao of the city Transportation Department.

At these hours, depending on when the White Oak detector registers a vehicle, the wait time for motorists is from 30 seconds to about two minutes, he said.

But according to Shao, during the weekday midday and night, White Oak and other nearby smaller streets along Rinaldi take about 20 to 60 seconds to turn green. At these hours, there is less traffic on the 118 Freeway and fewer drivers use Rinaldi as an alternate.

Driving over the loop a second time or pushing the pedestrian button does not reduce wait time at an intersection of a major street and a minor one, Shao said. When these mechanisms are activated determines how long it takes for them take effect.

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Traffic Talk appears Fridays in The Times Valley Edition. Readers may submit comments and questions about traffic in the Valley to Traffic Talk, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted. Fax letters to (818) 772-3385. E-mail questions to valley.news@latimes.com.