This Brit Thinks American Drivers Haven’t the Foggiest

Let’s see if I have this straight: In England, you drive on the left side of the road but the steering wheel is on the right side of the car.

I’m OK so far.

But then they have those traffic “circles”--in reality often shaped like mutating amoebas--where about five streets or roads meet and everyone circles madly clockwise together, edging aggressively toward narrow exit chutes. If you don’t make your turnoff, you continue circling like a fly stuck in a revolving door.

Now I’m ready to call a cab.

But what really threw me was a letter from Ken St. John of Northampton, England. He wrote, following a visit to Los Angeles, to question our Yankee tendency to look over our shoulders before changing lanes. According to him, they don’t do that on his side of the pond.

“Taking one’s eyes off the road to look over your shoulder could prove fatal if the driver in front uses that moment to brake,” he wrote.

Well, Ken, we look over our shoulders to check our blind spots, which are usually located on both sides of the car right around the rear tire. If you make a lane change without checking the blind spots, you may end up doing a bump and grind with a Harley-Davidson.

Unless Princess Di took them in the split-up, I’m sure you chaps in England have blind spots, too. Look around. You’ll find them.

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Dear Street Smart:

Many of us are concerned about a recent decision to divert two southbound lanes of Topanga Canyon Boulevard at Avenue San Luis in such a manner as to squeeze off the third right lane. Please see enclosed sketch.

Because the broken lines on the pavement are not readily seen, when vehicles in the No. 1 and No. 2 lanes swerve to the right to follow the alignment, vehicles in the No. 3 lane are blocked out, creating a potential for collisions.

Perhaps you could bring this to the attention of the proper people for reconsideration.

Charles E. Robertson, Woodland Hills

Dear Reader:

The root of this problem is an oak tree.

A couple of years ago, when Caltrans officials started planning a new left turn lane on that state route at Avenue San Luis, they found a mighty oak standing in the median where the turn lane was to go.

They primed their Caltrans chain saws, but before they could topple it, neighbors rallied around the tree, saving it from a second career as fireplace kindling or a dugout canoe.

Unable to cut the tree and use the median for the turn lane, Caltrans did the next best thing: It realigned the southbound lanes to add a turn lane next to the median and in the process eliminated lane No. 3.

Caltrans spokesman Russell Snyder said he has heard of no accidents due this realignment, and there are signs to warn motorists about the disappearing No. 3 lane.

When I drove to Woodland Hills to check out the problem, I saw how the lane disappeared. But I also saw the oak standing tall in the median, as if saying: “Hey, better that lane No. 3 get the ax than me.”

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Dear Street Smart:

Is there anything as a group we can do to get the Winnetka off-ramp open on the Simi Valley Freeway?

Norton Goldberg, Chatsworth

Dear Reader:

You are referring, of course, to the $1-million ramps to nowhere. They were built in 1982 but have never been opened due to a dispute over whether Winnetka Avenue should be extended south of the freeway through the exclusive gated community of Monteria Estates.

It’s too long a story for this limited space, and has been reported lots of times anyway.

But the short answer is that the ramps are supposed to open in about a year as part of a residential and commercial development north of the Simi Valley Freeway.

The catch is that you will only be able to go north on Winnetka Avenue from the freeway because the folks at Monteria Estates south of the freeway continue to block an extension of Winnetka Avenue through their neighborhood.

If you want to press your elected officials to extend Winnetka Avenue through Monteria Estates, you can try petitions, letter-writing campaigns or noisy demonstrations. Try this for a demonstration chant: “We pay fees, we pay taxes. We deserve some freeway access.”

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Dear Street Smart:

Several weeks ago you responded to a question regarding the “point system” used by the Department of Motor Vehicles. Is this part of the vehicle code? If so, what section? If not, what is your source?

Lynda Hadjian, Sepulveda

Dear Reader:

Call me overly sensitive, but I get the feeling you don’t believe there is a DMV system that adds points to your driving record when you have accidents and moving violations, and then uses the total to determine whether you should lose your driving privileges.

It’s like when Santa Claus checks his list twice to see who is naughty or nice. You do believe in Santa Claus, don’t you?

If you want to read about the point system for yourself, you can buy the Vehicle Code book at any DMV office and look in section 12810.5, titled “Negligent Operator: Violation Points.”

Hey, I don’t make this stuff up. OK, sometimes I exaggerate for the sake of a little humor. But when it comes to answering your questions, you always get the best answer I can find. I mean, this is why I get paid enough to live in Bel-Air and check out the freeway in my chauffeured Rolls.

(That last line is an example of how I exaggerate for the sake of a little humor.)