Q: I had some car damage repaired after an accident. I decided to have the shop repaint the whole vehicle. They forgot to replace my front license plate (my bad for not catching the error). Halfway home, I was issued a ticket.
I see so many Teslas without a front license plate, let alone even the holes drilled for them. What gives?
Erin N.
A: Two plates are required. Tesla owners are told the dealer will drill brackets for them, but many nix the idea, and some do get tickets for not having their front plates.
Q: Why should drivers have to pay for repairs on Interstate 680 when so many of the problems are due to faulty construction? Twenty years ago you would see systematic cracks across the top left corner in many of the rectangular blocks of concrete in Alameda Country.
There’s a big deterioration from San Ramon to Dublin under the Alcosta Boulevard bridge. The engineers and contractors should be paying to fix I-680, not drivers.
Craig Bender, Walnut Creek
A: That’s not going to happen and here’s why:
Concrete areas, especially on bridges, sit on solid foundations, frequently supported by piling, which reaches to bedrock. Roadways, usually asphalt, are placed on softer, more compressible soils. When first constructed, the transition from concrete to asphalt is usually smooth. Over time, roadways settle faster and a bump grows right at the transition point.
This can be improved through the use of concrete approach slabs. But they are expensive and not always used. Even with a concrete slab, settlement will still cause a bump.
There are other explanation. Soils could be clay and expansive, and the roadway could rise higher. Rod-the-Caltrans-Man said, “Many people blame these bumps on poor work, but most of the time, the industry does a respectable job with new construction. The problem really grows over time, due to settlement.”
A $75.3 million project to replace concrete slabs will begin on I-680 in another year or so.
Q: Recently, in a fiery crash down a wooded embankment, a driver was killed on Bear Creek Road in Orinda.
This winding, hilly, one-lane country road has almost all double yellow lines. It follows Briones Reservoir and has lots of wildlife and bicyclists, and, also, speeding cars. Drivers cross the double yellow lines even though they can’t see who is coming, sometimes forcing oncoming cars off the road.
Can you remind these speeders how much they are endangering themselves and others?
C. Travis Alonso, Orinda
A: This is a frequent complaint on narrow East Bay roads. Folks, those double yellow lines are there to keep you and others safe and alive.
Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow, or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com or 408-920-5335.