Licence and registration and handicapped parking enforced; stop signs not.
Published Tuesday, May 16, 2006, in the San Jose Mercury News

Here's proof it's a jungle out there: Game warden issues traffic
ticket

By Gary Richards

Q You once wrote a column about how city police can issue tickets on
the highway and vice versa. Well, game wardens can also issue traffic
tickets. I know. I got one a few years ago.

Ron Couture
Fremont

A Whoa! I need to hear more about this.


Q This took place in the early '90s. It was a Sunday and I was
heading for work at 5:30 a.m. at the San Francisco airport. Going
north on Interstate 880, I took the Decoto-Highway 84 turnoff as
usual. On the top of the exit there is a set of lights. The
left-turn light always took a long time to turn green no matter what
traffic was like. There was no traffic and I got tired of waiting.

A Oh, oh.


Q I checked my rear-view mirror and saw two headlights that were close
together and higher then a regular car. I figured this was not a
California Highway Patrol car so I proceeded to make a left turn. The
car behind me followed. I figured this guy got tired of waiting also.
Then the blue and red lights came on. The officer was a game warden.

He issued me a ticket for not waiting for the green light. I went to
traffic school. The class was given by a Fremont police officer. I
asked him what kind of power wardens have and he said more then a
local officer. A few months later I saw the same warden pulling over
a speeder near the Dumbarton Bridge.

Ron Couture

A Hmmm. Maybe we can send the warden down to a shopping center.


Q The Cambrian Plaza shopping center at Camden and Union in San Jose
has many stop signs painted on the pavement. The problem: I am really
getting tired of having to slam on my brakes because people barrel
through as if there were no sign there. Is it the city's
responsibility to enforce traffic rules inside a shopping center?

A. Hernandez
San Jose

A Not usually. Most traffic laws are not enforceable in private
parking lots, which generally do not meet the definition of a highway
or roadway. They are usually not designed by traffic engineers with
proper lane widths, signs, etc. There are a handful of vehicle code
sections that can be enforced in a private lot -- reckless driving,
license and registration violations, DUI, hit-and-run cases and
disabled parking. Says Todd-the-Traffic-Cop: "I'm sure this is not
the answer your reader wants, but unfortunately there is little police
can do with this situation."


Q When exiting southbound Highway 17 at Hamilton Avenue and turning
right, the new lane starts out with a thick solid white line and
becomes a dotted white line shortly thereafter. Usually, cars that
have the green on Hamilton are flying through the light and some veer
into the new right lane (typically without signaling).

When I encounter a red light at that exit, I wait until traffic clears
in the right lane to ensure that I do not get hit by a car making a
sudden switch to the right. Because I have the red light, I assume I
am to wait until I am certain it is safe to proceed, but I inevitably
get someone behind me honking aggressively to go. If I proceeded on a
red light and entered that lane and another car that had the green
light moved into that lane and hit me, I have a feeling I would be the
one at fault because I had the red light. Is that correct? If so, do
I just sit there being honked at wildly until the right lane clears or
the light on our side turns green?

Barbara Johnson

A You should proceed, says Charley-The-Traffic-Cop: "When the driver
exits southbound Highway 17 to westbound Hamilton, they have the right
of way in the far right lane as it begins on the west side of the
intersection and was installed to promote traffic flow from the 17
off-ramp. The vehicles that are on westbound Hamilton and wish to
enter the far right lane to turn right onto Almarida Drive are
required to wait until it is safe to change lanes." But be careful.
If you need to stop to avoid a collision, do so even if you have the
right of way.


Q I want to thank the guy in a little blue car who on May 4 flagged me
down on Highway 85 and let me know that there was something riding on
my bumper. There was: my binoculars. I hate to have to replace them.
This also justifies that Highway 85 is pretty smooth as I was on the
road from Bernal to Bascom and they never fell off.

Norma Campbell
Campbell

A This reminds me of the time I put a pair of shoes on the roof of my
car and drove about 10 miles before someone flagged me down. I'm sure
others have had a similar experience, but I'm curious. What have you
left on your car?


Contact Gary Richards at mrroadshow@... or (408) 920-5335.