Drivers beware of the “moth effect,” keep eyes on the road
QI remember taking a DMV refresher course to take care of a speeding ticket I once acquired in the good old days of the double-nickel national speed limit.
The CHP officer teaching the class commented on the “moth effect,” saying to be careful when driving at night and parking on the side of a freeway if your vehicle breaks down. Drunk or otherwise impaired drivers are well-known for drifting over to the right lane and crashing into a parked car with its hazard lights flashing.
AGood advice from the officer and you. While this is a bigger problem at night, it can also occur anytime a driver spots a disabled vehicle, becomes fixated on it and begins drifting toward it.
Most CHP injuries occur when they have stopped a car and are hit while on the shoulder.
QMoth effect? If drivers are unconsciously drawn toward sparkly things we’re all in trouble. What about those super bright digital billboards? — Scott Esong
AIf on a freeway like Highway 85 near Oakridge Mall, Highway 101 near Whipple, Interstate 880 near Valley Fair and I-880 in San Leandro, keep eyes ahead and not on the bright electronic billboards for the shopping centers.
QThere’s another problem driving at night. Drunk or confused drivers going the wrong way in the fast lane think they are in the slow lane and instead are coming at you head on. Didn’t the CHP once advise you to avoid the fast lane late at night? — Mike Payton
AYes, they did. That is why Caltrans is testing warning sensors at a dozen locations around Sacramento and San Diego after there were 490 wrong-way collisions on state highways over the past decade. Large motion-detection sensors are set off at off-ramps saying “Wrong Way” with blinking lights.
On the last day of the Garlic Festival in Gilroy, a wrong-way driver involved in two collisions on Highway 101 in South San Jose died.
QI split my time between San Diego and San Francisco and have a handicap placard. For years I just made a colored copy of it to use in the other place. It worked until last month when my car was towed in San Francisco and I was given an $800 ticket for a counterfeit placard. My appeal was rejected. Is there any way I can have a placard for each car? And do I have any hope of winning a further appeal? — Glenn Pierce
AYour chances are nil to none. Each driver is allowed one disabled placard. Your best hope may be an understanding judge.