Q. The traffic signals at Rose Drive and Valencia Avenue in Brea have a bright yellow border. Is this a test or related to something else?
– Rick Darwicki, Yorba Linda
A. They are not part of a test – and you will see more like them.
Various cities and other agencies, including Caltrans, are installing the yellow-perimeter signals to catch motorists’ eyes.
If a utility has to power down in an effort to reduce the chance of a wildfire, and the backup batteries many of the signals have run out, traffic officials want drivers to still see what the industry calls “signal heads” in the dead of darkness.
Motorists, of course, should treat non-functioning traffic lights as stop signs, as required under California law – to prevent one of the most dangerous collision types on surface streets, the T-bone.
Darkened traffic signals certainly aren’t eye-catching like the Pacific or Mrs. Honk – but the yellow-bordered ones, even midday, do grab your attention.
Besides being yellow, the borders are reflective – made to catch headlights’ beams. You will come upon them especially in or near rural or wooded areas, stretches more likely to get hit with planned power outages.
In Brea, there are several of these gadgets, placed there by Caltrans on roads it maintains.
“I think that’s an effective tool, especially during a power outage,” said Tony Olmos, the city’s public works director.
Q. Honk: I just received the notice for the registration renewal for my 2013 Chevrolet Equinox. I was surprised when I noticed that the Department of Motor Vehicles was requiring that my vehicle’s first smog certification needed to be from a STAR station, not just any smog station. Is the restrictive requirement because of the model or some other factor? I have another, older auto that requires a STAR station certificate, and I understand that. Just curious.
– Nick Yagar, Anaheim
A. You are a 2 percenter, Nick.
Everybody stay calm – Honk isn’t going political.
As Nick knows, vehicles that can have more trouble passing smog checks, such as the graybeards out there on the road, oftentimes do end up having to go to STAR stations, which meet higher state testing standards.
“Two percent of the vehicles required to obtain a smog check certificate of compliance each year are randomly selected for inspection at a STAR station,” Matt Woodcheke, a spokesman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, told Honk in an email. “Your letter-writer’s vehicle is part of that selection process.”
Matt is top drawer about giving those in Honkland information they want to know, so he added this:
“Smog check inspection prices are market driven, so STAR stations may or may not cost the same as other smog check inspection stations.”
Honkin’ fact: A Los Angeles councilwoman, Monica Rodriguez, wants the city to deploy strategies on roads to deter street racing and street take-overs – where cars take command of intersections and spin doughnuts. The techniques could be permanent or temporary and include speed bumps, rumble strips, putting barriers in medians and creating traffic circles. Just this week, in neighboring Burbank, police say it appears street-racing led to three deaths and two severe injuries – the dead and one of the injured were in a Volkswagen that didn’t appear to be part of the race at all.
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk
Source: Orange County Register
Be First to Comment