Q: I found your article from Aug. 21, 2007, titled “Roadshow: There really is a free right turn on red.”
Kara Hardman, Los Gatos
A: Back in 2007! I was just a young pup in those days. What prompted you to dive into the Roadshow archives?
Q: I was researching the internet because my teenage daughter was ticketed for failing to stop at a four-way stop with a dedicated right-turn lane in Los Gatos. The stop sign was in the island to the left of the right-turn lane at Main Street onto Pleasant Street.
From what I have seen, 60% of the time people yield here and do not come to a complete stop. There is definitely confusion on the correct procedure. It appears a yield is the correct thing to do.
You told us — and my daughter’s driving instructor told her — to follow signs to your right, not to your left, so she was pretty confident she did the right thing with yielding.
When she questioned the Los Gatos police officer, he said he was “pretty sure” she was supposed to stop, and then gave her a ticket.
Pretty sure is not 100% sure, so now I have to take my daughter to court to ask for the ticket to be dismissed. There is a stop sign on the small triangular island to the left, only, but no yield or stop sign to the right.
Kara Hardman
A: Head to court. This is an issue that baffles drivers, and more than a few traffic cops. The DMV says treat this as a “yield” situation. Slow down, prepare to stop, watch for pedestrians and bicyclists, and proceed when safe.
Q: Every weekday around noon, a long line of cars forms for the In-N-Out at the corner of El Camino and Grant Road in Mountain View. The line of cars soon wraps from Oak Street around the corner and takes up the entire right lane on Grant. At busy times, the hungry hamburger crowd even spills onto El Camino.
This is a dangerous situation. Cars crossing El Camino from Highway 237 swerve out of the right lane to avoid the backup.
I like In-N-Out as much as the next guy, but why do police allow this situation to persist? I can’t believe they aren’t aware of this, as it’s there every day.
Chris Sullivan, Palo Alto
A: Vehicles queuing on the street to turn into a property are not committing any vehicle code violations. City staff will reach out to the business owner to review additional actions they can take to help to reduce this dangerous queuing on the street.
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Author: Gary Richards