Size Doesn’t Matter in Carpool Lanes

Over the last three decades, Southern California has developed the largest carpool lane system in the nation. Over that same period, solo commuters have devised some pretty outlandish schemes to try to drive in the Southland’s diamond lanes.

We’ve all heard the stories of the pregnant woman who claimed her unborn child as a passenger. And then there’s the tale of the hearse driver who suggested the body in the casket qualified him for the carpool lane. Motorists have even propped up dummies in the passenger seat and outfitted dogs with hats and sunglasses to sneak into the smoother-flowing lanes.

Gersten Schachne, a college professor who lives in the San Fernando Valley, wrote to Behind the Wheel to gripe about what he sees as yet another scam to use the carpool lanes.

Question: Many times I am driving in the “fast lane” but am stuck in traffic. I see many cars in the carpool lane with two or more passengers, but they are children--who cannot drive a car. Now, since the purpose of the carpool lane is to encourage two or more drivers to share the ride so as to remove cars from the road, aren’t these parents and children carpoolers illegally using the carpool lane?

Answer: For the record, carpool lanes are restricted to cars with at least two living, breathing human beings.

To meet the true purpose of the carpool lane, Gersten seems to suggest that the state should restrict these lanes to vehicles carrying at least two legal-age drivers. The problem with that idea is that the California Highway Patrol would then be required to stop and check the ages of all carpool passengers who look a bit under the driving age.

“It would just be too much of an enforcement problem,” said Dawn Helou, who oversees carpool projects for the state Department of Transportation in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Besides, the CHP already has its hands full looking out for carpool users carrying mannequins and hat-wearing dogs.

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Speaking of shocking sights on the freeway, Deane Bottorf of Corona del Mar wrote to say that he occasionally sees drivers on the road who are so short that they can barely peek over the dashboard to see the road ahead. Those diminutive motorists must look through the steering wheel to navigate through traffic, he said

Q: Is there a legal requirement for “height of eyeballs above the steering wheel?”

A: The Department of Motor Vehicles has no height requirement for driver’s license applicants. DMV spokesman Steve Haskins said even the tiniest of drivers can qualify for a license if they can prove during a driving test that they can safely maneuver a car. The DMV will even allow drivers to sit on pillows and cushions during the test.

If a CHP officer sees someone who appears physically unable to steer or brake a car, the patrol can require the driver to reapply for a license. But that decision is based on physical abilities, not physical dimensions.

Imagine the alternative:

CHP Officer: “Do you know why I pulled you over, sir?”

Driver: “No. Was I speeding?”

CHP Officer: “No, sir. You just look kinda short and chunky. Can you please step out of the car so I can measure you?”

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In two previous columns, readers offered some pretty imaginative ideas for putting a quick end to those annoying and dangerous police pursuits that often clog our freeways.

The suggestions ranged from deploying snipers to disable fleeing vehicles with armor-piercing bullets to using helicopters with super-powerful magnets to pluck the offending cars off the freeways.

Some of the suggestions bring to mind a quote from the movie “This Is Spinal Tap”: “There is a fine line between clever and stupid.”

Rudy Paige Pagliaccio of Los Angeles offered an idea that seems to be on the clever side of that line.

Q: Why can’t coppers in choppers drop a little magnetized tracking device gently on the roof of the bad guy’s car? Police can follow at a safe speed while others are informed of the car’s location by computer tracking. When they get to a safe, convenient place to collect ... then call Schwarzenegger!

A: CHP Sgt. Dean James Gogios, who runs the department’s high-speed driver training center in Sacramento, said Rudy’s idea has some merit. Unfortunately, he said, police in a helicopter 250 feet in the air probably can’t drop a magnetized device on the roof of a speeding car with much accuracy.

Gogios points out that the CHP is testing all sorts of devices to put an end to such pursuits. For example, he said, the patrol is looking at a newfangled gun, designed for the Army, that can disable a fleeing car by shooting an electronic beam that short-circuits a car’s electrical components.

Unfortunately, Gogios said, the gun is not ready for freeway use. It can disable a car, he said, but there is still some concern that the electronic beam may have a harmful effect on people inside.

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Like most Southern California motorists, Jay Baker of Los Angeles spends a lot of time sitting in traffic--so much time, in fact, that he has started to fixate on the junk he sees alongside the road.

He wrote to say that he often sees dislodged bumpers on the side of the freeway after an accident has been cleared away. He says the bumpers can lie along the freeways for months, even years.

Q: Is this a planned phenomenon or merely a coincidence?

A: Sorry, Jay, but Caltrans spokeswoman Pat Reid doesn’t buy your story. She said Caltrans sends sweepers to clean the pavement of broken glass and other bits of debris after an accident. A trash truck follows the sweeper to collect bigger junk, she said.

Reid said she doubts that discarded bumpers go overlooked for several months. “It just isn’t something that happens,” she said.

Jay’s bumper problem aside, no one can dispute that Southern California freeways are often cluttered with some pretty strange stuff.

In fact, a few years ago, volunteers who adopt certain stretches of freeway in Los Angeles reported discovering the following oddities: a size-40 bra, an uncashed check for $7,000, false teeth, handcuffs, men’s edible underwear (cherry flavor) and a dog’s head in a bag.

If you come across such weirdness on the roadside, please send a letter or e-mail to Behind the Wheel. We will try to compile a top 10 list of oddities for future publication.

Please, don’t send the roadway jetsam to us--unless, of course, you come across some of those uncashed checks.

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If you have questions, comments or story ideas regarding driving in Southern California, write to Behind the Wheel, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, or send an e-mail to behindthewheel@latimes.