In the Right, Seeing Red

The privilege of turning right on a red light is certainly convenient, but on the whole I'm not sure it's entirely a good thing. Not that anyone is asking my opinion.

To many drivers, it seems to mean "I can turn right whenever I want." Take the woman in the beige sedan for example, who nearly ran me down on Foothill Expressway today. I was turning left, with a green left-turn arrow. Her goal was to turn right, from the opposite side of the road. As far as I can tell, she never noticed the left-turning traffic; she saw no cars approaching on Foothill and turned right on red, directly into my path. Inches from her left front bumper, I held my breath, swerved, and hit the brakes. She continued on her merry, oblivious way. Given her lack of reaction I will bet that she never even saw me, the cyclist in the neon yellow jacket. Had I been driving, our cars would have collided.

Otherwise, it was a pleasant day with a few excursions into the hills. Coming up the second sharp switchback on Lancaster, a woman descending in an SUV smiled and called out "Ow! That hurt!" Moments later, another descending motorist waved enthusiastically. I meandered along to my destination near the top of Ojai, and realized that my legs might not have the strength to propel me up the final steep pitch. Whew! I didn't fall over. Mindful of the "Private Property" sign near the top, I turned around.

It was a day for turning around at unwelcome signs. Being in the neighborhood, I couldn't resist a spin up Cañon Drive, a peaceful country lane adjacent to San Tomas Aquinas Creek. Cañon is a through road, partially maintained by the county - up to a point, which is now prominently marked with a yellow sign. Dare to follow the switchback, and you will find the signage featured above. What lies beyond? Some beautiful homes, with beautiful views, and at least one ugly resident.

A few years ago, cyclists were being accosted when passing through. After studying the California Motor Vehicle Code and chatting with the local sheriff's office, it appeared that the Private Road designation applies to vehicles. Not to pedestrians. Not to cyclists. A "No Trespassing" sign, however, is a different matter. After some cyclists kindly educated said resident, he saw to it that the signage was enhanced. Cycle through, no more.