No fuss with motorcycles lane-splitting at red lights

Q

What does Mr. Roadshow think of motorcyclists who split lanes on city streets at traffic lights? I refer to motorcyclists who, after coming up to a red light with many stopped cars, lane-split between the cars up to the intersection, then swerve into the crosswalk ahead of one of the front cars and stop, thus passing a dozen or more autos. — Bob Ayers, San Jose

A

I have no problems with this. It won’t delay me much and as long as they don’t scratch my car or whack the mirrors, what’s the big fuss?

Q

I was glad to read your discussion of the “ghost light” at the Warm Springs BART station in Fremont. We have a similar problem at Commercial and Berryessa in San Jose. The light cycles at night for the parking lot of California Waste Solutions, leaving us to wait unnecessarily. Can this be fixed? — David Cohen, San Jose

A

Absolutely. The video detection equipment for the California Waste Solutions driveway needs to be replaced. This equipment, as well as all in-pavement vehicle detectors, will be replaced as part of an upcoming resurfacing project. The work could completed by the end of this week.

Q

My 11-year-old greatgrandson asked me this question. If you are taking your driver’s license test and you have an accident, do they fail you? My answer was something like, “Not if the accident wasn’t your fault.”

He told me his mother said you would fail because you didn’t complete the test. Since both of these answers make some sense, what is correct? — Marge Apel, Gilroy

A

Grandma vs. Mom. Tough spot for the kid.

A collision of any kind immediately ends the driving test. The DMV does not determine who may be at fault during a collision, but a DMV representative will take photos of any damage, and complete a written report regarding the collision. The parties involved will be provided with the Traffic Accident Report (SR 1) form to complete and return.

If the examiner determines there was no error made by the applicant, the driving test will be terminated, meaning the test was neither satisfactory nor unsatisfactory. In this situation, the terminated test will not count as one of the customer’s three driving test attempts.

However, if the examiner determines there was an error made by the applicant, the test will be marked as unsatisfactory, and the results will be updated.

Q

Can you let Caltrans know their signal on the northwest corner of Homestead Road at Highway 85 is facing the wrong direction again? It should face Maxine but it is now facing Homestead, causing people to turn left when it is not their turn. I called them about six months ago and it was fixed for about two weeks before the wind blew it in the wrong direction. — Chris Orr

A

Caltrans will get its crews back out there.