DATE: Friday, September 26, 1997            TAG: 9709250166

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 
COLUMN: THE ROAD WARRIOR 

SOURCE: Road Warrior 

                                            LENGTH:   98 lines

SIDE STREETS DRIVERS MUST YIELD TO MOTORISTS MAKING A U-TURN

Road knows this is going to crush a few folks and maybe sitting down will make it easier to handle: Road made a mistake.

Last week, in response to the call from Chris about getting a ``no U-turn'' sign at Great Neck and Harbor Lane, Road said, ``If you're coming out of the neighborhood, making a right turn, the folks who are U-turning should be yielding to you . . . ''

Regrettably, folks, that bit of information was wrong.

If you're coming out of a neighborhood to a stop sign, you're considered to be on a ``side'' street which means that you yield to main street traffic, even those making a U-turn. In other words, if you're on a small road and the U-turner is on a bigger road, you yield.

Which brings Road to another point. If you're coming up to a red light and want to make a right on red you must yield right of way to everyone else, including U-turners. Road has witnessed several instances where folks making the right after they've stopped seem to think they have right of way over someone making a U-turn in front of them. That just isn't so.

Also, this is in reference to red lights. If you've noticed, the city has been changing the lenses on the left turn signals from a round red to a red arrow. Just because the round has been replaced by an arrow does not mean you can make a left turn on red. The same rules apply - when a left turn light is red, you stop and stay stopped until you get the green.

SNARLS OF THE WEEK

The following people called Road's INFOLINE number with their complaints.

Kimberly Pool, Green Run. Not only do people need to wear their seatbelts they need to not drive so close. I was going into the Hampton Roads Tunnel, and, as we entered, the car in front of me stopped. No one in back of me could see because I drive a van and all I heard was screeching tires behind me.

I can really see why there are accidents in the tunnel. People drive too closely and because of that slope you can't see that people have stopped.

I wish there was a way we could make sure people don't follow so closely and give themselves enough time to stop.

RW: The cops have a good way - they issue tickets for the offense.

If you rear-end someone, there's a good chance that you'll end up with a ``following too closely'' ticket. In the case of the tunnel, no one leaves a full car's length between themselves and the vehicle in front of them and that, my friend, is the whole problem.

Wife of John Doran (Calling for him). Out on the road three weeks ago, my husband ran across an accident and dialed 911 to report it. After about two, three or four minutes, the phone just continued to ring. He dialed again and the same thing happened. It just rang and no one ever answered it.

RW: If John uses a cellular phone, he needs to dial *77, not 911.

Bill Simmons, Kings Grant. I just wanted to say that I hope somebody notices the great job the city has done in changing the dangerous curve in the south end of Smiths Lane on North Lynnhaven Road

It looks great and they are to be congratulated.

RW: Road's happy to pass that along, Bill.

Lisa. I work with Virginia Beach schools and in last week's paper about where to write for bus complaints, the wrong address was listed. The correct address to write is: David Pace, Transportation Services, 1612 New York Ave., Virginia Beach., Va., 23454.

RW: Thanks for clarifying that, Lisa.

C.W., no address given. I'm calling about the left turn at Baxter Road and Open Greens Parkway. It's been out for about a week. Sure would like to get it fixed.

RW: Engineers said they'd go check it out. There used to be a bad loop there but that was fixed some time ago. Road assumes you're talking about the actual bulb itself being blown?

Lori, Thalia Manor. I have a small problem. There's a hedge on the northeast corner of Rosemont Road and Malibu Palms Drive that blocks your view from Malibu Palms onto Rosemont. I was wondering if there was some way that whoever is responsible could cut that hedge down so that visibility could be improved. Thanks.

RW: Well, if the homeowners don't know it's a visibility problem the city will tell them - that is if it's deemed a problem. Road'll pass this on to the View Obstruction Department.

Sandy Weaver, Greenhill Farms. My question is what do you do about someone who's parking in a handicapped parking space with her dead husband's handicapped sticker flapping from the rear view mirror? I know someone who's doing this and I don't know if I have nerve enough to go and confront her and wondered if there's another way to do it.

RW: Road personally would consider several things before reporting anyone. First, how long has the husband been deceased? Is this an elderly woman who could benefit from walking only 10 feet and not 200 feet to a store? The other question is, are there others that you know who need the space worse?

Road's not for lawbreakers, but sometimes you've just got to be human. If it's an older woman, give her a break. The sticker will eventually expire. If it's a case of neighbor-against-neighbor, get over it.

If it's a younger person, call your local precinct. Maybe the cops will have time to check it out.

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