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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS);faqs.011 You can probably find out from DMV what states California has reciprocity agreements with. Nevada is almost certainly one of them. I'm not familiar enough with CA DMV to know how seriously they enforce reciprocity. However, whether or not your home state cares about out of state tickets, the state issuing the ticket never forgets. If you get stopped in that state again, they will almost certainly haul you to the local hoosegow and keep you there until you pay the massive fine. Insurance companies are a much bigger menace. They get data from everywhere. It's very hard to hide tickets from them. However, most states can't release a record of a ticket until the ticket is actually paid, because you aren't officially guilty until you've paid the ticket or had a "trial". My insurance company never knew about my out of state tickets as long as I didn't pay them. Of course, had I been caught a second time in one of those states and been "convicted" of driving on a "revoked" license with unpaid tickets, my insurance rating would have become terminal immediately. The bottom line is, if you're caught speeding next door, you'd better pay it because there's a good chance you'll get stopped again in that state, which would be a disaster. If you're caught out in Podunk State (say North Dakota) and you don't expect to be back more than once or twice in your lifetime, you can take a chance on skipping out on the ticket. Remember, though, that the rural states are wise to this. They usually direct you to drive to the next state patrol office and pay the ticket immediately. They may follow you to make sure you do. From: Mark Walsh <optilink!walsh@uunet.uu.NET> on 16 Dec 91: I got screwed by the city of Berkeley early last year. The police officer was very polite, and he said that the ticket was merely a fine like a parking ticket, and it would not go on my DMV record. Guess what? My insurance went up! When I talked to my agent, he said that their (Farmer's) computers talk to many local computers, and everybody shares info with everybody else, and that the DMV was probably the only bureaucracy that did not know about the ticket. 15.Do tickets dismissed by traffic school attendance appear on my DMV record? From: jordan@MooreNet.COM (Jordan Hayes) on 29 oct 1991: Here's the scoop. Note: this changed recently, and I'll note the differences between what's in effect now and what was before Jan 1, 1991. There are two versions of your DMV record, what I'll call the private one and the public one. The private one has all of your transactions, since the establishment of your bits in their computer. This is a "write-only" type of record. Nothing ever gets removed (except for incorrect information :-). The public record is the one that you can get for a fee, and the one that your insurance company can get. This has things dropped off after certain time limits that vary with the charge (for instance, DWI events stay longer). In addition, if you go to traffic school, moving violations do not get transferred to your "public" record, and you don't get the "points" involved added to your record -- get a certain number of points in a certain amount of time (4 in a year, 6 in 2 years, 8 in 3 years [CVC 12810.5]) and you can lose your license; you may have to check up on DMV to make sure that they received your of certificate of traffic school completion. The right time to do this is *before* your insurance comes up for renewal ... Starting January 1, 1991, if you get another moving violation within the first year after going to traffic school, the *original* violation gets moved from your private record to your public record (so that insurance companies can see it), but you don't get charged points for it. In addition, you are ineligible for traffic school, so you'll now have two convictions on your record. From: Ed.Evans@f227.n103.z1.fidonet.org (Ed Evans) on 1 nov 1991: I've been told that if you go to traffic school, and if you get another moving violation within 18 months, then your original citation will appear on your DMV printout. This information has been denied by DMV personnel. However, Gov. Dukemajen signed a bill to this effect before he left office. Before he signed the bill, the policy was for the citation to reappear if the violator violated within 12 months. Going to traffic school is an admission of guilt. The violator's citation is not "forgiven" and it does not "disappear." It is "masked." This means that it is kept in an informal holding area (of a computer) forever. To wit: a violation within 18 months of attending traffic school causes the citation to become "unmasked" and it remains unmasked until it has been presented to the world for its 36 month tour of DMV abstract access. After 36 months, all citations are masked and do not reappear, except for PD's on request, courts, and the National Security Agency on request. This is important to know if you want to become a cop or need a top secret clearance. Otherwise, it'll probably never matter, once the citation is masked. There's a lot of folk wisdom passed out by traffic violator school instructors. I know, I'm one of them. From: Mark Walsh <optilink!walsh@uunet.uu.NET> on 16 Dec 91: Lesson: make sure that your traffic school paperwork gets all of the way through the system. I went through the traffic school, and sent the paperwork in via certified mail, etc. A few months later, I was at the DMV, and found out that I had a warrant out for my arrest! My paperwork had fallen through the cracks. 16.When you see a sign "Litter removal next two miles by organization XXX", what exactly does XXX do? From: rog@Ingres.COM (Roger Taranto) on 18 Jul 1992: They are required by CalTrans to clean up their section of the highway at least quarterly. They are told to park near the highway (on some side street or something, not on the side of the highway), and they have to give CalTrans and the CHP notice a certain amount of time before they go out there. They are given safety instructions before they go. Finally, there are two types of people you see picking up litter along the side of the road: those with *white* hats are part of some group doing litter removal; those with *orange* hats are doing "community service", e.g., someone who got sentenced to do community service. Alternatively, sponsors can hire cleanup crews. 17.What are some recommended readings? (originally compiled by stevea@locus.com; some updates from a post by pvmason@cco.caltech.edu (Peter V. Mason) on 2 Oct 92) (if you would like to maintain this list, please Reply!) Beating the Radar Rap, Dale Smith & John Tomerlin, Bonus Books, Chicago, 1990, $15. How to fight a radar-clocked speeding ticket in court. (Annotation summarized from Car & Driver, 2/91.) (stevea) Don't Get Taken Every Time, Remar Sutton, Penguin, city?, 1991?, ~$8?. This book pulls no punches in its expose' of car dealers' tactics on car buyers. Fictional examples offer lessons. Also a step by step guide for buying cars. (stevea) Fight Your Ticket, David W. Brown, Nolo Press, Berkeley, 1991, $21.95, 800-992-6656. I found it under "traffic violations" on the library index computer. Dewey number is 345.0247 BRO 1991, ISBN 0-87337-132-1. It's obviously specialized to California, but there are some pretty good general topics on how to act when stopped (polite, non-committal, don't make the cop's job easy by admitting anything). Check out all the facts you can and write down the entire incident for use in court. One of his claims is that the cop is trained to decide whether to give you a ticket before he gets out of his car, so fawning or apologizing will get you nowhere. Another point is to read the vehicle code very carefully, because each code section requires that several elements be established to convict you. Brown also discusses out-of-state tickets and lists the states that are in the Driver's License Compact and cross report-violations. Incidentally, Brown verifies that you can't be convicted of a speed violation using radar measurement unless there has been a survey within 5 years. (pvmason) The Safe Motorist's Guide to Speedtraps, John Tomerlin & Dru Whitledge, Bonus Books, Chicago, 1991, $24 "RADAR" members, $31 nonmembers, 800-448-5170, also available in some bookstores. For the 50 states: Hwy Patrol radio frequencies, fines, ticket info exchanges with other states, speed traps, more. (Annotation summarized from Car & Driver, 3/92.) (stevea) A Speeder's Guide to Avoiding Tickets, Sgt. James M. Eagan, Avon Books, New York, 1990, $5. How to avoid getting caught; what to do before, during, and after being pulled over. Mildly amusing and worth the price. (stevea) From: bill@Celestial.COM (Bill Campbell) on 28 Sep 1992: The Ticket Book, Rod Dornsife, ISBN 0-9601950-1-7, published by The Ticket Book, Inc., PO Box 1087, La Jolla, Ca 92038 I don't know whether this is still available. I got mine when it was handed out to all the participants in the 1979 Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash (the last real Cannonball). Traffic Court - How to Win, by Atty. James Glass, Allenby Press, Arcadia, CA, 1988. Claims to be nationwide in application. (pvmason) How to Win in Traffic Court: The Non-Lawyers Guide to Successfully Defending Traffic Violations, by Phil Bello, J.D., Major Market Books, Gibbsboro, NJ, 1989. Also claims to be nationwide. (pvmason) 18.What are the phone numbers of some public agencies? (Some of these apply only to particular areas of the state. The purpose of this information is to show the kinds of services that are available; consult your phone directory for the local corresponding agency. Additions to this list are welcome, of course.) 800-427-7623 CalTrans' highway information number: Call from a touch-tone phone, punch in the highway number, and a recording will tell you about current and scheduled closures, chain requirements, and traffic restrictions. As far as I can tell, it gets updated as whenever conditions change. Drive safely! --from Alan Hu <ajh@Xenon.Stanford.EDU> on 10 Dec 92 800-CUT-SMOG South Coast Air Quality Management District: to report smoke- emitting (for longer than 10 seconds) vehicle (note license number, make, model, place, and time) 714-724-2000 CalTrans, Orange County: to report potholes 714-754-5334 Costa Mesa Transportation Services: to report malfunctioning traffic signals (note place, time, and situation) 19.Is window tinting legal? From: john@storcon.com (John Hunley) on 14 Dec 1992: The applicable paragraph in the CVC is 26708. It's too long to quote here in full, but basically what it says (disclaimer: this is my own personal interpretation, I'm not a lawyer, don't come running to me if you get nailed) is that you may not operate with "any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied upon the windshield or side or rear windows." Side windows to the rear of the driver are exempted (26708b4), as is the rear window IF you have mirrors on both left- and right-hand sides (26708b8). Tinted safety glass is permitted by 26708.5b. Therefore, the basic distinction is whether you have tinted glass or tinting that is stuck onto the glass. There's no mention of "factory" vs. "third party." A third-party tint job would be legal if it was done by replacing the windshield and front windows with tinted safety glass, rather than by sticking or painting something onto the existing glass. An interesting side note is that 26708a3 specifically includes snow and ice as an obstruction covered under 26708. So you can get a ticket for 26708 for having snow or ice on your windshield or front windows, as well as stick-on tinting. Same violation. 20.Do I need chains in the mountains if I have snow tires? If so, what kind? From: Alan Hu <ajh@Xenon.Stanford.EDU> on 10 Dec 1992: According to my memory according to a pamphlet put out by CalTrans a few years ago, chain requirements come in three varieties: 1. Chains required. Four-wheel drive or snow tires OK. 2. Chains required. Four-wheel drive with snow tires OK. 3. Chains required on all vehicles, including four-wheel drive. Usually you'll see #2, although I've seen #1 before. The pamphlet said they'll usually close the road instead of doing a #3. Tires marked M/S or M+S qualify as snow tires [CVC 27459]. The chain requirements used to surprise my non-CA friends. If you haven't seen them enforced yet: You'll see the Chains Required sign. Lots of people will be pulled off the side of the road putting on chains. Various people wander from car to car offering to put your chains on for a fee (but they're not allowed to sell chains). Farther down the road, a checkpoint checks EVERY car that tries to continue. If you don't meet the chain requirement, they turn you back. In short, if you're driving in the Sierra, they're very good to have. Also, there's a toll-free CalTrans road condition number [see the phone numbers question in this FAQ]. From: Dan Hepner <dhepner@cup.hp.com> on 9 Dec 1992: Most people could indeed drive the passes when snow covered without chains, IF the road were more or less clear of other cars. But in stop-n-go driving, common in the Sierra during a snow storm, required chains are what prevents total chaos. -- And, if so, what would y'all recommend?? For infrequent usage, such as having the bad luck to hit snow on a Sierra pass during a drought, consider the cable type. For frequent usage, or maximum effect, use the real thing. Watch out for oversized tires, or even maximally sized tires on front wheel drive. The chains can extend wide enough to hit other front-end components. Cables mitigate this problem. 21.What's the net.recommendation for motorcycle insurance? George Wu <gwu@tcs.com> received the following replies to this request of 30 sep 1991: Having just purchased my first bike (Yamaha SRX 250), I now need to get insurance. Since it's not worth that much, I'm just going to get liability. CSAA (California AAA) must think motorcycles are dangerous or something, since they won't insure it. From: Andy Philips <abp@goedel.arc.nasa.gov> McGraw Hill Insurance Services: 415-780-4841 Call Melody x3021 and tell her I sent you, she may or may not remember me. From: georgeb@zimmer.CSUFresno.EDU (George Barbary) The best deal I got on insurance was from Mcgraw-Hill. There is a startup fee of approximately $40. Then the premium was $86 for six months. I had minimum coverage. This rate is for Fresno. It may vary in the Bay area. From: chaney@leland.stanford.edu (Ken chaney) State Farm is reputed to have "best" rates for single males under 30. I heard this from a AAA agent, who gave me a quote. Don't know why they won't give you one. Perhaps I'm mistaken and the quote was for my car. At any rate, it was higher than the premium I pay State Farm (single male age 25). From: karen@brahms.AMD.COM (Karen Black) I've insured my SR250 (and GB500) through State Farm. When I started, I was paying about $250 for 100/50/100, uninsured motorist, comp and collision. Now I'm in State Farm Mutual and paying $160 for liability and uninsured motorist. I've been very happy with State Farm. From: tamecat@yoda.eecs.wsu.edu (Walter Dryfoos) I'd suggest that you give Coupin Insurance on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland a call. They always found me the best deal on my bikes. They're an independent agent, so they have lots of options. From: Kevin Tiene <tiene@apple.com> I am about to buy a bike (Honda Hawk GT 650) and got the same response from CSAA. They recommended getting insurance through the dealer. From: brad (Brad Whitaker) Marketing Direct (800) 729-2537 MotorCycle Insurance From: George Buzsaki <gbuzsaki@us.oracle.com> Mike Felder Insurance (1-800-7-CYCLES) He specializes in motorcycle liability insurance and is a good guy to boot. From: Donald Ng <doning@ocf.Berkeley.EDU> I got the lowest quotes for insurance from Mike Felder in Concord. He's at 1-800-7-CYCLES, and gives discounts for taking the MSF courses. From: George Wu <gwu@tcs.com> Based on what the net recommended, I called Mike Felder and McGraw Insurance. For just liability, Felder quoted $157. McGraw quoted $87. I went with McGraw, naturally. Personally, I think the $157 is an error. I definitely stated I wanted liability only, but I bet that's not what he quoted. After I passed the MSF course, I called McGraw Insurance back to try and get a discount. They don't offer one for the MSF course. The only safety discount they offer is for "good drivers." One is a "good driver" if one has held an M1 license for at least three years and has zero or one points on his or her license. 22.What is a "CHiPs detector"? What's the complete story on CHP radios? from Chucko@charon.arc.nasa.gov (Chuck Fry): That's right. Many CHP cars are equipped with repeaters so that when the officers get out of their cars, their walkie-talkies need only reach the car instead of the base station. The CHiPs Detector (tm) takes advantage of the fact that the CHiPpies rarely turn off the repeater when they're IN the car. Note that the CHP may change this frequency at any time, although they're not likely to. The disadvantages are that you just know at least one CHiPpie is in the area, not how close, what they're doing, or whether they're after you; and there's no signal transmitted from the repeater when the base station is silent. So it's hardly foolproof. morris@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us (Mike Morris) posted on 12 oct 1991: The following info was compiled from several sources, none of which have 1st-hand knowledge of the new CHP radios, but what I have been able to put together seems to agree. So with that caveat, ... The older Motorola Micor mobile radios had "mobile extenders" by GE. These extenders were 1/4 watt transmitting units that repeated the audio from the 42mhz CHP mobile radio to 154.905mhz. The mobile extender time-sliced the channel to transmit for roughly 9/10 second and receive for 1/10 of a second to see if the officer was replying. Hence the "yakyakyak-chuff-yakyakyak- chuff-yakyakyak-chuff-..." sound of the repeated traffic on the 154mhz channel. There was a writeup of the single-channel time-slicing technique in a ham radio magazine back in the early 70s, and the technique has taken off tremendously. It has mostly been used to allow single-channel radio-to-telephone interconnects called simplex autopatches (because they use one channel - a "simplex" channel.) Anyway the mobile extender technique works very well, and allows the officer to use a relatively low power high-band hand-held to communicate with the dispatcher via the > 100w low-band mobile radio in his/her patrol car with very little trouble. A low-band hand-held would have to use a 6' antenna to be resonant, or a "rubber duckie" over a foot long. And the hand-held couldn't have enough RF power to reach the dispatch center in 99% of the state. Hence a 150mhz handheld (where a 18" antenna is the norm, and a "rubber duck" is < 9") and a mobile extender. A bit of history: The bid for mobile radios was won by Motorola around 10 years ago. The mobile extenders were an afterthought, and that bid/contract was won by GE. The user interface was a simple on/off switch, and the state radio shop people mounted it in the Motorola control head. It was a toggle switch labeled with a Dymo tape "repeat enable/disable" (or "extender on/off" or "portable on/off"). The average officer soon discovered that leaving the extender switch in the "on" position worked just fine. They turned off the hand-held to shut off the "repeater", not realizing that the mobile side of the extender was still on. Probably 99% of the CHP officers left it on for the entire shift. With the almost constant activity on the CHP dispatch channels, this 154.905mhz vehicle transmitter behaved like a 1/4w beacon, providing between 1/4 to 1 mile notification of the location of a patrol car. Now the spoiler: The CHP is replacing (has replaced here in my area) _all_ of their Motorola Micor/GE extender radio packages. The new radios are all GE, with CHP-designed control groups. (The state Red Cross got 90% of the radios for the 47.42 - 47.62 freqs. A few of them went to other state agencies, like the Office of Emergency Services). The 1991 Southern California edition of the "Police Call" frequency listing has a nice writeup on the CHP-designed control groups, as I remember. They even got 90% of it right. The new design forces the officers to disable the extender when they are in the patrol car. Listening to 154.905 while mobile now just tells you where a CHP car is _stopped_, with the officer out of the car, as opposed to before when it would tell you where a stopped or a moving one was... Here is the frequency map of the CHP hand-helds as I have it. F1: 154.905 with the primary tone. (NOTE 1) F2: same 1st alternate tone F3: same 2nd alternate tone F4: 154.920 (CLEMARS 1) - Base side of CLEMARS F5: 154.935 (CLEMARS 2) - Mobile/Portable CLEMARS F6: 156.075 (CALCORD) (NOTE 2) F7: 155.475 (CLEMARS 3 / NALEMARS) (NOTE 3) Abbreviations: CLEMARS: California Law Enforcement Mutual Radio System. CALCORD: California Coordination - a statewide "on-scene" channel NALEMARS: National Law Enforcement.... A federal version of CLEMARS. Note 1: With the old hand-helds (2 freqs - 154.905 and 154.920) there was no way that two units from different areas (i.e. different dispatch frequencies) could have their extenders operational at an out-of-vehicle scene -- when an officer transmitted, both mobiles would be brought up. the remainder of Note 1 explanation is from the post of scotto@ipars.cts.com (Scott O'Connell) on 14 oct 1991: The receiver of the extender has an attenuator making a low wattage HT usable for only a short distance (typically less than 50yds). To make sure there is only one extender being used within close proximity each vehicle extender sends a short burst tone to see if others are active. If it is within range of another active extender it doesn't turn on at all. The HT is then using the other vehicle radio (the one that was already turned on). Now for the PL explanation. There are three channels on CHP HT's that relate directly to the extender. Channel 1 (also called PP or Person to Person) does not transmit any tone nor does it decode. It is meant for HT to HT use. Channel 2 has a subaudible tone on transmit allowing the officer to talk to dispatch. (ie, transmits on the input freq of the lowband radio) Channel 3 has a different subaudible tone on transmit allowing the officer to talk to other officers. (ie, transmits on the output of the lowband radio) All channels are carrier squelch on the receive so that PP can be heard regardless of other traffic. I hope this clears up why there are three 154.905 channels on the HT's. Note 2: 156.075 is also the Ship TX side of Marine channel 61 (paired with 160.675 Ship RX). I understand some re-thinking of the use of this frequency is going on. It seems to be pretty useless in coastal areas. Note 3: 155.475 I have been told that this channel has multiple PL tones. I have also been told that the CHP handheld is 10 freq - capable. Maybe this channel has multiple appearances like F1-F2-F3. More info is needed. Another rehash of the low band channels is in the works since LA County Sheriffs is moving to 800 or 900 mhz. The CHP has acquired all of the 39mhz LASO channels and is slowly moving to change all of the low band dispatch operation to full repeat. My sources do not know if the mobiles will be transmitting on 39mhz and listening on 42mhz or vice versa. It does not make much difference to the GE mobiles since they cover the full 30-50 mhz just fine (as opposed to the old Micors that covered 42mhz to 50mhz only. Does anybody have any info? 23.But aren't most citizens prohibited from using mobile radio scanners? from Bob Parnass, AJ9S <parnass@ihlpy.att.com> on 4 nov 91: Anyone interested in US state and federal laws relating to radio monitoring should check out Frank Terranella's "Listener's Lawbook." It is available for $9.95 (plus $2 UPS) from Grove Enterprises, 140 Dog Branch Road, Brasstown, NC 28902. I am not an attorney, but I have a 1989 issue of Frank's earlier work, "ANARC Guide to US Monitoring Laws," and will summarize from that book. California monitoring laws may have changed, but here are the laws of interest to Californians as they were in 1989: - Penal Code s 632.5 makes it a crime to maliciously monitor cellular radio telephone calls. - Penal Code s 635 outlaws the manufacture, sale, and possession of devices primarily or exclusively designed or intended for eavesdropping on cellular phones. - Penal Code s 636.5 makes it illegal to divulge any police radio service communication you hear on your radio to a criminal or to assist in the commission of a crime or help a criminal evade the law. In addition, Californians are subject to the same federal monitoring laws as other Americans. The most important one to remember is the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986 which makes it a crime to listen to cellular or mobile radio telephones or common carrier paging, and outlaws descramblers. Section 705 of the Communications Act of 1934 makes it illegal to divulge the contents of what you hear on your radio to others unless the conversation was on ham radio or the citizens' band. Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu alt.cd-rom:6297 comp.multimedia:4524 news.answers:4456 Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!spool.mu.edu!agate!agate!usenet From: rab@cdrom.com Newsgroups: alt.cd-rom,comp.multimedia,news.answers Subject: alt.cd-rom FAQ Followup-To: alt.cd-rom Date: 7 Dec 1992 04:03:34 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley Lines: 1567 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Message-ID: <1fuiemINN81e@agate.berkeley.edu> Reply-To: rab@cdrom.com NNTP-Posting-Host: sage.berkeley.edu Summary: Frequently asked questions about CD-ROMs Archive-name: cdrom-faq Last-modified: 1992/12/06 ========================= FAQ alt.cd-rom =================================== FAQ for the alt.cd-rom usenet newsgroup. This list is posted to alt.cd-rom every month. The latest version is available via anonymous ftp from cdrom.com (192.153.46.254): /pub/faq. This file is freely redistributable. Disclaimer: I have a direct financial interest in some of the companies mentioned in this posting, and indirect financial interest in several others. ============================================================================ 1. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs? 1a. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in North America? 1b. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in Europe? 1c. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in Asia? 1d. What are some good sources of CD-ROM discs in Australia and New Zealand? 2. Can you recommend a good CD-ROM drive? 3. Where can I get caddies? 4. Are there any good periodicals and publications on CD-ROMs? 5. Why are CD-ROM drives so slow? 6. Is it important to have a fast CD-ROM? Does 300ms vs. 700ms really matter? 7. Is it important to buy a fully SCSI compatible drive? 8. How much does it cost to make a CD-ROM? 9. Where can I get a CD-ROM published? 10. Where can I find equipment to make my own CD-ROMs? 11. How much information will fit on a CD-ROM? 12. Why doesn't MSCDEX work with DOS 5.0? 13. Where can I get the latest version of MSCDEX? 14. I bought a used drive at a garage sale. Where can I find a driver for it? 15. What is the difference between `High Sierra' and ISO-9660? 16. Where can I get a copy of the ISO-9660 standard? 17. What is an HFS disc? 18. Can you give a short explaination of ISO-9660? 19. What the heck does `Red Book' and `Yellow Book' mean? 20. What is CD-I? 21. What is CD-ROM/XA?