That is one stretch where drivers can’t tow stuff
Q. I was traveling on the 91 freeway toward Newport Beach last week, and I saw a pickup truck hauling a camper trailer in the 91 Express Lanes. Is this legal, to be towing a camper trailer in those lanes?
– Elizabeth M. Roberts, Garden Grove
A. Hope that driver was off to have some fun, but that stretch is off-limits for those towing stuff.
“A car (or) truck pulling a camper is not allowed in the 91 Express Lanes,” Eric Carpenter, a spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, the public agency that owns and operates that toll system inside Orange County, told Honk in an email. “Any vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds, camper trailers, or any vehicles with more than two axles are not allowed.”
Why?
Says Carpenter: “Heavy vehicles, such as these, cause more wear and tear, and prohibiting them leads to a longer lifespan of the lane surface. The 91 Express Lanes were resurfaced for the first time in 2016, using funds collected from the people who use the toll road.”
The Orange County stretch of the Express Lanes opened in 1995.
The Express Lanes hire the California Highway Patrol to provide added patrols on those lanes – which run the median of the 91 freeway, from the 55 freeway to the I-15 – to keep a lookout for vehicles that are not supposed to be on them.
Now, Elizabeth, trailers can be towed on the other tollways in Orange County, such as the 241 and the 73. They are operated by two other public agencies and are more similar to actual freeways.
On those, the license-plate of the trailer must be used to pay the bill, and California freeway laws apply – so any vehicle towing anything has a speed limit of 55 mph and needs to stay clear of the so-called fast lanes.
Q. A couple of weeks ago, the paper had an article about motorcycles, and it talked about the California Highway Patrol having 10,000 vests for riders. I stopped at the CHP office in Westminster, and the folks there didn’t have a clue about that program. Can you find out more about it?
– Nick Berger, Westminster
A. Of course Honk can track down an answer, Nick, but the info won’t make you smile.
The vests are handed out free to those who take motorcycle-education classes from entities that offer CHP-approved curriculum, and at special events, said Officer Mike Martis, a CHP spokesman up in Sacramento.
Honk asked if there was anywhere else the vests could be picked up, hoping he could help you out, Nick, but was told no.
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.