Going slower than traffic’s flow is often better
Q. I am due to renew my license soon and am confused about the one answer I got wrong on the Department of Motor Vehicle’s practice tests: You are driving on a freeway posted for 65 mph, with traffic traveling at 70 mph – how fast should you drive? The correct answer was listed as: “No faster than 65 mph.” I have always thought the so-called Basic Speed Law meant that one should maintain a speed on the freeway that keeps with the flow, rather than going slower than other cars and causing congestion. Can you please clarify what the California Highway Patrol requires? Thanks.
– Mary Jane Bartee, Huntington Beach
A. There are actually two laws in play here, Mary Jane.
CHP Officer Paul Fox, based out of the Santa Ana office, said one of them does in fact call for driving a “safe speed for the conditions,” and those conditions could involve fog, rain, snow, slow-moving traffic and that sort of stuff.
So if freeway traffic was flowing at 35 mph and a motorist was going much faster, but below the posted limit while weaving across lanes, he could be rewarded with a citation for violating the Basic Speed Law.
And then there is another state law that caps how fast you can go, no matter what – that posted 65 mph for most freeway stretches is a prime example.
“Sixty-five – that is the maximum you can go,” said Fox’s beat partner, Tino Olivera, an officer and spokesman for the CHP. “Anytime you are going over 65, you are violating the law.”
Citations, of course, aren’t likely to come your way if you are a smidge over.
Q. While in traffic and gazing at the license plates in front of me, I’ve noticed there are two different types of registration stickers: One shows the entire year, for example “2018.” The other shows only the last two digits of the year, such as “18.” Why the difference?
– John Costigan, Coto de Caza
A. This two-tag system goes back years, and which type of tag a motorist gets depends on how the registration was processed, Honk has learned.
But the wise ol’ gent doesn’t know exactly what that means, because the Department of Motor Vehicles won’t divulge the specific circumstances, citing confidentially in an attempt to help thwart counterfeiters.
Honkin’ fact: On his Stonewall, Texas ranch, President Lyndon B. Johnson kept an Amphicar, a civilian amphibious auto mass-produced in Germany in the 1960s. Joseph A. Califano, a special assistant to the president, once recalled an incident in which Johnson pretended the brakes had failed and drove into a lake, teasing him via a second passenger: “Vicky, did you see what Joe did? He didn’t give a damn about his president. He just wanted to save his own skin and get out of the car.” Johnson then roared with laughter (Source: National Park Service).
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk.