Q: This is basically a PSA. My wife’s Honda Ridgeline truck was recently opened by a burglar while in our driveway. We are sure the truck was locked and he appeared to use an electronic device to gain entry. It appears we may have been the subjects of a key fob relay or repeater attack.
We usually keep car keys inside the house within range of the cars. We will now keep our keys inside Faraday boxes, which block electromagnetic fields, hoping to prevent incidents like this again.
Raymond Kawakami, San Jose
A: Thanks for sharing your story and solution.
Q: While driving home from Tucson recently, it occurred to me why driving on Interstate 5 is so painful. It’s a double catch-22: Slower drivers don’t want to get back in the right lane, because they fear faster drivers won’t let them in the left lane when they come upon a slow truck. Faster drivers don’t want to let slower drivers in the left lane because they fear they won’t move right again when they can. Our fear and lack of compassion cause the entire problem.
Jerks who close ranks when they see a blinker are causing traffic in the same way that the “75 is fast enough for anyone” crowd who stay in the left lane.
The solution is easy:
1. Keep right except to pass… ALWAYS! (should be a law)
2. Drivers in the left lane should ALWAYS let a car in who signals to come over. The other problem is trucks passing other trucks. We need truck-only passing lanes every 5 miles, and then it should be illegal for trucks to be in the left lane.
Jim Linder
A: The best thing to do on I-5 is to choose a non-passing lane and go with the flow, move into the left lane only to pass, then move right again.
Q: A few months ago, you shot down out of hand a reader who suggested reducing the length of the carpool lane on the 880 north approach at the 101 interchange. Shortening the carpool lane deserves more thought.
Much of the mayhem here is due to drivers staying in the carpool lane as far as possible before trying to cut across four or five lanes of merging traffic at the last minute. If the carpool lane were to end sooner, traffic would even out more.
This interchange needs flyovers in all directions, but I will not hold my breath.
Nathan Laing, San Jose
A: The VTA is doing studies on improving this interchange. The fix will be costly, with a price tag of over $1 billion for all options being considered. You won’t like the answer, but none of the present options include shortening the carpool lane.
Look for Gary Richards at facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.
