To help inform the public about what is considered legal activity on the highway (or what could land you a ticket), CHP’s office in Stockton started a Q&A series it calls “Weird Wednesday.”

Throughout the summer and into fall, CHP posed a question every Wednesday morning and revealed the answer that afternoon through its Facebook page. 

People have asked a variety of everyday questions, including about the legality of driving with blinkers on or eating while driving and how speed is “enforced by aircraft.” CHP dutifully clarified what you can and should not do while traveling on California highways (spoiler alert: It’s OK to have a snack).

CHP districts across the state have air operations units that deploy fixed wing airplanes to patrol the skies and monitor vehicle speeds. 

On the ground, CHP patrol cars are staged along the highway as a CHP aircraft flies above. Using lidar — laser technology that can capture vehicle speeds — a CHP officer can measure whether a driver is speeding.

“The aircraft uses markings along the right hand shoulder to mark and measure distance,” CHP wrote in a post on June 28. “After factoring in a math equation, which determines the speed of the targeted vehicle, CHP Air communicates with the patrol cars on the ground.”

The ground patrol unit follows the description of the vehicle to pull over the accused speeder. 

For a look at what CHP aircraft see from the sky, the agency published a clip on its Instagram page in October 2019, when CHP saw someone surfing the wake at the Kelly Slater Wave Company’s Surf Ranch while officers were patrolling Lemoore south of Fresno. 

Whenever a semitrailer pulls out of the slow lane to pass a driver on the left, it causes a gradual traffic jam as drivers in the rear reduce their speed for the slow-moving behemoth. 

The leisurely ricochet can peeve faster drivers and lead them to wonder whether a big rig is even allowed in the left lanes. 

CHP explained that tractor-trailers cannot use HOV lanes — ever — but there are examples when they’re allowed to pass vehicles on the left if the highway has more than two lanes. 

“If the freeway has 4 lanes, the truck is limited to lanes #3&#4 and cannot use lanes #1&#2,” CHP wrote in July. “If the freeway has 3 lanes, the truck is limited to lane #3 and can only use lane #2 to pass slower vehicles (the truck is limited to 55 mph).”

The clicking sound to indicate that a blinker is on can sometimes go unnoticed, leading a driver to travel with their signal, confusing drivers behind them. 

CHP explained that the only regulation in the California Vehicle Code that mentions blinkers regards deploying the signal when turning or making a lane change. 

“[There’s] nothing about forgetting to turn it off and driving for miles and miles with the blinker on,” CHP wrote in July.

Anyone who remembers studying for their learner’s permit can likely tell you the answer to this question, but CHP made it abundantly clear in an August post. 

“NO….‼️ You MAY NOT cross over solid double yellow lines in order to pass a vehicle,” the agency wrote. “It can be frustrating to drive behind a slow moving farm vehicle, however please be patient. There are usually passing zones within close proximity.”

The agency warned that these activities are distractions and can be dangerous. But there’s no law against eating while driving. Even if such a law were proposed, fast food companies would be in an uproar if their customers couldn’t eat while driving, and their lobbying power would likely squash any attempt to change this policy. 

California has more drivers than any state, which means the roads require active maintenance. If there’s a construction zone for a highway project spotted while driving at night or during the weekend when there’s no worker activity, it’s a fair question to ask whether a slower speed limit is still in effect.

CHP explained in a September post that the slower speed limit in a construction zone is there for safety measures. The construction site could alter the roadway by narrowing the lane or removing the shoulder. Therefore, even when there are no workers around, you’re expected to continue following the slower speed limit.  

“That lower speed limit is in effect 24/7 for your safety,” CHP wrote. “Even when workers are not working at the time you travel through the construction zone, the black and white sign stating a lower speed limit in the construction zone, must be obeyed.”