Cutting Corners Can Be Dangerous, but It’s Not Illegal

Dear Street Smart:

The other day, I had stopped for gas at a corner gas station. The traffic light at the corner turned red while I was in the station.

In the two-lane road without a separate right turn lane, the cars started to line up.

A jerk who was not willing to wait cut through the gas station at such a speed that he almost hit a customer crossing to the cashier.

Isn’t it illegal to cut corners in this manner, and what can be done to report these inconsiderate drivers?

Dean Chikami

Cypress

While he may have been breaking the law by speeding or driving recklessly, he was not breaking it by cutting across the gas station’s property, according to a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

“There is nothing in the vehicle code which addresses this,” spokesman Steve Kohler said. “It’s a matter of local ordinance; if the community in which it takes place has passed a local ordinance prohibiting it, then it’s a citable offense.”

A spokesman for the Police Department in Cypress said that the city has no such ordinance.

To be cited for speeding or reckless driving, the driver would have to have been seen by a law enforcement officer. In extreme cases, Kohler said, you can write to the CHP with a license number, car description, date, time and location of the observed infraction.

But the most the agency can do after the fact, he said, is send the offender a letter warning him to change his driving habits.

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Dear Street Smart:

Going south on the San Diego Freeway just north of the Sand Canyon Avenue overpass, a sign says “Lake Forest, 1.5 miles.”

About a quarter mile south, another sign says, “Lake Forest, 2 miles.”

This is the first time I ever drove a quarter mile nearer my exit and found myself half a mile farther away. What gives?

Dale E. Carnelison

Laguna Hills

Caltrans goofed, and promises to fix the signs by mid-January.

Agency spokeswoman Maureena Duran-Rojas said Caltrans workers already were aware of the mix-up, but your letter gave them new impetus to take care of the problem.

“It’s not a safety hazard, otherwise we’d be out there yesterday,” Duran-Rojas said.

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Dear Street Smart:

I live in the North Tustin area and cross over the Costa Mesa Freeway several times daily.

Currently, Caltrans is rebuilding the Fairhaven Street overcrossing, which they were supposed to have opened in June. From the looks of the site, it appears that it will be several more months before they open the bridge to traffic. When will they open it?

I ask because they now want to close the Santa Clara Bridge too. If the two bridges are closed at the same time, this forces a lot of people to travel several miles out of their way. In one direction, you have to travel on the 17th Street bridge, which also is under construction and difficult to get around, and in the other direction is a residential bridge not designed for that amount of traffic.

Why don’t they finish one before they start the second one?

The amount of time they have taken to build these bridges is ridiculous. They were able to rebuild the bridges after the Northridge earthquake in about eight weeks--here, it has taken more than 78 weeks. I know there isn’t the urgency, but why 10 times longer?

David Thornton

Tustin

First, the Fairhaven Street overcrossing was finally scheduled to reopen three days ago, on Friday.

The reason for the long delay, Duran-Rojas said, is twofold: last year’s stretch of bad weather that caused work to be stopped for a time, and the unexpected discovery of some underground utilities that had to be relocated.

The Santa Clara bridge, Duran-Rojas said, is scheduled to be closed for reconstruction on Jan. 6.

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.