Red Paint Won’t Curb Use of ‘No Parking’ Zone at Bank

It’s a new week, a new writer and a new ramble.

But fear not--the goal remains the same.

Today, the latest incarnation of Street Smart revs up his engine, puts it into gear and hits the highway, ready to put his all into making your minutes--or hours--behind the wheel each day less hair-raising.

But don’t forget, dear readers, that Street Smart needs your help in advancing the driving dialogue. There’s a new kid on the block here, and he wants your letters and phone calls. This is your column too.

So air out those nagging roadway gripes that drive you mad. A dangerous corner? Confusing signs? Or how about Street Smart’s favorite peeve: city workers who reduce busy thoroughfares down to a single lane for half a mile during rush hour JUST TO TIDY UP THE LANDSCAPING IN THE CENTER MEDIAN?

See how good that feels?

And now, let’s move on.

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Dear Street Smart:

On Thousand Oaks Boulevard just before you get to Westlake Boulevard in front of the Great Western Bank, there are “No parking” signs that have recently been put up. However, people do still park there and go into the bank or use the ATM machine in front of the bank.

This creates a traffic problem because it cuts down on the new right turn lane at Westlake and Thousand Oaks boulevards.

My suggestion is they paint the curb red, as people don’t pay any attention to the signs.

Bill Fessler

Westlake Village

Dear Reader:

Turns out you’re not the only one with a gripe about that corner. The apparent disregard for those 2-week-old signs has drummed up plenty of complaints over at City Hall. But that still doesn’t solve your problem.

Despite an ongoing political debate in the city about a proliferation of signs along Thousand Oaks Boulevard, city traffic engineers may install even more “No parking” signs in hopes that people will finally heed them.

But the best deterrent is a few pricey parking tickets, eh?

Senior Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Godfrey promises just that.

“We’ll put it on our selective enforcement for 30 days,” he said.

Painting the curb red might sound like a good idea, city traffic engineer Jeff Knowles said, but it also is fraught with legal trappings.

Consider: California vehicle code allows for cities to paint curbs red within 15 feet of fire hydrants and within no-parking areas. But unless every designated no-parking area in the city is painted red, violators can claim confusion before the judge and get out of paying their citations.

“Quite often, it’s not a question of what we did in one place, it’s what we’re not doing someplace else,” Knowles said.

And consider that the average life expectancy of a no-parking sign is about 10 years. A painted curb lasts about one or two.

In other words: $$$$$$$.

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Dear Street Smart:

I recently moved to less than a stone’s throw of California 118 and North Street.

I was wondering why these trucks everyone is complaining about are still hauling down that street at better than 70 mph in a 45 zone. They’re noisy, they have no consideration, and I’ve talked to Caltrans, etc. and gotten no answers.

I’m very concerned about these trucks, when I know someone is going to die eventually trying to get out from a side street onto 118.

William Fisher

Somis

Dear Reader:

Street Smart will never know why some truck drivers on the 118 think their loads of rocks or lemons are more important than little kids and other motorists.

But if those trucks are traveling as fast as you say they are on that infamously deadly stretch of roadway, the California Highway Patrol hasn’t heard about it, CHP Officer George Orozco said.

Still, the CHP, which we rely on in these parts to cover a whole lot of ground, is interested.

Your best bet is the CHP’s new citizen complaint system, dubbed the Traffic Concern Complaint Form. The program, just a few months old, aims to help the CHP keep track of traffic hazard hot spots while giving concerned citizens a way to do a little patrolling themselves.

Call the CHP at 654-4571 on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Ask for a watch officer, and tell her or him everything you can. Record what time you saw the speeder, what kind of truck it was, how fast you think it was going.

Better yet, try to get a company name off the truck or a license plate number. The complaint forms are then passed on to the field officer who patrols a given area, helping the officer know what to look out for.

Trust Street Smart on this: If there are speeders out there who are putting people in danger, the CHP wants them.

Orozco said you can even follow up later on your complaint form and find out what citations or other enforcement actions officers have taken.

Good luck.

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Dear Street Smart:

As you enter the city of Thousand Oaks/Ventura County on the Ventura Freeway, there’s a sign on the 65 mph speed limit sign that says “radar enforced.”

This sign went up about a month or so ago, but I haven’t seen any patrols that have radar units.

I was under the impression that they don’t have radar on the freeways, at least in this area.

Dan Gordon

Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

Misleading is the operative word here.

Although the sign suggests that a radar trap is coming ‘round the next mountain, it is not.

The California Highway Patrol does not use radar enforcement anywhere along the Ventura Freeway in Ventura County, Orozco said.

Believe it or not, what the sign is really telling motorists crossing the border from Los Angeles is that radar enforcement is used in parts of Ventura County.

The most notable place to find a roadway that is truly “radar enforced” is an infamous stretch of California 126 where road-widening work led to a string of fatalities near Fillmore and Piru last winter.

That is not a ticket to speed on the Ventura Freeway, however. The officer in the black-and-white can still getcha.

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Peeved? Baffled? Miffed? Or merely perplexed? Street Smart answers your most probing questions about the joys and horrors of driving around Ventura County. Write to: Street Smart, c/o Richard Warchol, Los Angeles Times, 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001, or call the Sound Off line at 653-7546. Include a sample sketch, if needed, to help explain. In every case, include your full name, spelled correctly please, address and day and evening phone numbers. Street Smart cannot answer anonymous queries, and might edit your letter or phone message.