Q: My son and I were recently traveling on the eastbound 91 Freeway through Anaheim Hills and noticed a passenger vehicle driving through the weigh station to bypass traffic. What is the penalty for non-commercial vehicles that use those lanes as a shortcut?
– David Cordero, Anaheim
A: Honk tried to connect with the California Highway Patrol at that weigh station David, but couldn’t.
But, as you know, he is one smart cookie.
So he turned his gaze southward and called one of the San Onofre weigh stations, just south of the Orange County border.
There, like at other weigh stations, semitrucks are weighed and inspected to ensure they trundle safely. CHP officers stationed there wear dark-blue uniforms, which can better hide smudges than the traditional tan ones, because they crawl beneath the trucks for look-sees.
Officer Andrew Betancourt said such shortcut attempts are rare where he is stationed: “It’s not real common.”
If it happens, there are two Vehicle Codes that would likely work to penalize the offender with a ticket: There is a 5 mph speed limit for the short road through the weigh station, and such a scofflaw would likely be violating that. And if the scales were shuttered, that means any such vehicle could be cited for failing to adhere to the posted closed sign.
His weigh station does get the occasional non-trucker though: Drivers, usually with small children, needing a restroom in a long stretch of roadway with few of them.
They get a pass.
“We’re all human,” Officer Betancourt said.
