Peter A. Klein's Blog

On the Road Again – When and Where Do You Stop

On the Road Again – When and Where Do You Stop?

Many years ago, I was rearended during rush hour traffic. A twentyish man was not paying attention to the traffic. He rearended the car behind me, who rearended me. I, by design, had left enough room between me and the car in front of me so I did not hit them.

On freeways and surface streets, I see drivers who tailgate the cars in front of them when the traffic is moving. When traffic comes to a stop, these drivers are still close to the car in front of them.

I vaguely remember from driver training class that when you are driving in traffic, you want one car-length between you and the vehicle in front of you, for every ten miles per hour of your speed. For example, if you are driving at 30 miles per hour, you want the distance of three cars between you and the vehicle in front of you.

I do not remember if there was a similar rule of thumb for a safe distance between cars when stopped. When stopped at a red light or a stop sign, it is best to allow one-half to a full car length between you and the car in front of you. I would suggest a bit more room at the end of a freeway offramp.

The key factor is STOP! You are not special or entitled. Stop!

Once you are stopped, when should you start up again? If you are at a stop sign, go when there are no obstructions, people, or pets in your way and no traffic in your way or closely approaching. That seems obvious to me.

Then I started thinking about traffic signals. Many traffic signals are controlled by electronics that are connected to sensors embedded in the street. The photograph shown in this article shows the surface of a street with outlines of the sensors and the wiring. When a vehicle, a motorcycle or larger, passes over or stops over one of the sensors, an electronic signal is sent to the control box. The more vehicles that are detected by the sensors, the more signals are sent to the control box. In addition, the control box has timing mechanisms to make sure one direction does not get backed up too far.

A week or two ago, I was the first vehicle in line at a red light. I was in the right-hand lane. There was a car in the left-hand lane as well. I looked over to the left and noticed that the driver had not pulled up far enough to trigger the sensor closest to the intersection. Did that make any difference to how long we waited? I don’t know.

Another thought on traffic light sensors has to do with the issue I mentioned above: how close do you want to get to the vehicle that is stopped in front of you? The way the sensors are spaced out, the cars would need to be bumper to bumper to make sure they are all detecting the maximum number of cars at each red light. That seems too close for me.

A man I used to work with, told me about a drive he needed to make five days a week for a previous job. The drive required a left-hand turn at a traffic light controlled by sensors. His drive was around midnight and there was not much traffic at that time, so he would wait and wait for the left turn signal. Finaly, he figured out that if he pulled up to the intersection, waited a few seconds, and backed up a car length or so, and then pulled forward, the traffic light would change. He did that night after night, eventually without looking because no one was ever behind him. Until there was. If you are careful and aware of other traffic, this can shorten your waiting.

An additional source of locating places to visit is Can’t Travel? Go Virtual! for ways to find places to visit.

Happy travels!

15 Steps – Is the Company You Hired Who They Say They Are?

About 25 years ago, I was the superintendent on a construction project here the San Diego area. The heating, air conditioning, and ventilation (HVAC) contractor was a company I had not worked with before. I was pleased with the company. They did what the contract stated, the workers were on time and knowledgeable. I got to know the owner’s son and we would chat from time to time even after the project was completed.

Over the years since then, the company grew and started advertising on television a couple of years ago. I had them install a split unit air conditioner in our master bedroom. The installation went smoothly and passed the required inspections.

15 Steps – It Can Be Difficult to Pick a Good Contractor

So, it happened again. The local NBC television station aired a story recently about a couple who hired a contractor to remodel their home. The person who claimed to be a contractor took a large down payment and disappeared. This happens much too often!

What can someone do to prevent this type of fraud from happening to them? If takes work. Let get you started with a list drawn up by the California’s Contractors State License Board (CSLB.) This is the agency that licenses contractors in California. They suggest that anyone that needs to hire a contractor do the following, with my comments in italics:

On the Road Again – On-Ramp Bad Behavior

There are many things about other drivers that frustrate me, not that I ever do these things. Things such as running red lights or stop signs, driving at excessive speeds on any roads, or cutting in and out of traffic just to get ahead of all the other vehicles.

To me, one of the most frustrating and dangerous is drivers who misuse the on-ramps to transition roads with fast traffic. There are three ways of driving on an on-ramp that are dangerous. Driving too slowly, not paying attention, and driving fast and cutting across lanes to the fast lane as soon as possible.

When driving on an on-ramp, it means that the driver is about to merge into traffic, which in most cases is driving at speeds of 55 MPH or faster. This means that the driver on the on-ramp should but often does not accelerate to match the speed of the vehicles into the lane they will merge.

Not providing space so that another driver can merge into the lane you are in, or where two lanes narrow to a single lane, is dangerous and discourteous!  Cutting off other drivers probably will not get you where you are going any sooner.

Then there are the drivers who drive at whatever speed they have chosen and just drive without paying any attention to the traffic into which they will merge. Some drive too slowly. Others drive too fast. This requires the other drivers to take whatever action is needed to prevent a collision. By paying attention to the traffic in the merge lane, you can adjust your speed to fit into an open space without causing problems for other drivers. Also, paying attention is a key part of driving safely.

On my way home this afternoon I saw a driver enter the freeway ahead of me and move across the lanes to their left to get to the number one or fast lane. At least they were accelerating to fit in the next lane. The driver was lucky that there was room for them in each of the lanes to their left.

The worst case of this type of driving I saw was several years ago in Orange County. I was headed north on Interstate 5. I was in the number three lane. There was a car to my left in the number two lane. A car entered the freeway a bit ahead of us and slowly, five to ten miles per hour slower than the other traffic and moved to the left to access the carpool lane. The driver to my left and I both had to hit the brakes to prevent hitting the pokey driver. After the numbskull was out of our way the driver to my left and I exchanged glances and shrugged our shoulders.

As a driver, each of us is required to be aware of the conditions on all sides of us, regardless of the conditions. Courtesy does not cost you a penny.

Looking for places to visit? Read Can’t Travel? Go Virtual! for ways to find places to visit.

Happy travels!

On the Road Again – Keep on Truckin’

I recently drove from San Diego to the Bay Area to take some things to family members and just have a good visit. I took Interstate 5 (I-5) going north. As always, getting through Los Angeles was the worst part of the drive.

As I was approaching the city of Tracy, I was at the bottom of a shallow incline in the highway. The top of the incline was a bit over a mile away. I was amazed by the number of tracker-trailers or semis heading south. I counted thirteen.

15 Steps – Plant Milkweed in Your Yard for Monarch Butterflies

CBS’s 60 Minutes program for April 20, 2025, ran a story about monarch butterflies. These butterflies are amazing. There are two types of monarch. The difference is that one type resides east of the Rocky Mountains and the other type lives west of the Rocky Mountains.

The eastern version of the monarch butterfly can be found as far north as Canada. As the weather cools off in the Autumn, the eastern monarch migrates to the Oyamel fir forests in the states of Michoacán and Estado de México. These forests are high in the local mountains.

15 Steps to a Successful Remodel – Remodel for the Unexpected

As healthy and happy you may feel right now, there is a good chance that your life may change. For instance, about twenty years ago I was going to fix my roof because two roofers could not do it. I wound up breaking my left shin just below the knee.

That led to five surgeries on the left knee, then two knee replacements, and lots of physical therapy and acupuncture. Some of the things that would have made the recovery from those surgeries easier are now part of my home.

On the Road Again – Keeping Track of Documents When You Travel

There is a lot of preparation that goes into most travel. First you have to figure out where you are going, how do you plan get there, and where you will stay once you get there?

Add to that all the paperwork, possibly digital, that may be needed for one or more trips. You will most likely need tickets and reservations at a minimum. If you are taking a road trip, old school paper maps can be very handy, along with you GPS. Oh yes, you will need your driver’s license and a copy of your vehicle insurance.

On the Road Again – You Can Always Learn to be a Better Driver

Lifelong learning is one way of staying younger than you may be. I was over 70 when I published my first book. By learning we expose ourselves to things that are new to us and often we meet new people, which can increase the things you learn.

For over 50 years I have been a member of the American Automobile Association or AAA. Not only have they been there to provide roadside assistance when needed, but their maps and tour books have helped me learn about places I wanted to visit, as well as how to get there. They also have wonderful travel agents.

On the Road Again – I Want to Remember My Travels

We took a cruise to Alaska in 2016. For some reason I took my tablet with us. One day during a quiet period I started a document about that day on the cruise. I wound up journaling the entire cruise. Since then, I have journaled all our trips. It is fun to read the journals years afterwards.

A couple of weeks ago, I was going through the journals and decided to put them all into a single Word document. While doing this I found that I could not find the computer file for one of our trips. So, I rewrote it. Then I thought, why not add a trip we did to the British Isles that we took before the Alaska cruise.