How Not To Get Stopped by CHP

No matter where you drive in Suisun City, you could be pulled over by the California Highway Patrol, which has jurisdiction not only on state highways but on all roadways open to the public.

Driving behaviors that put you most at risk of being stopped by CHP

• Swerving, weaving and other signs of DUI
• Erratic speeds, failing to proceed at green lights
• Seat belt neglect or abuse, including illegally modifying seat belts
• Speeding ("That's been the cat and mouse game forever," Paulson said.)
• Cell phone use

And while the CHP is best known for nabbing speeders and drunk drivers and investigating highway crashes, the patrol also combats less-spectacular threats to public safety such as distracted driving, cell phone use and seat belt neglect.

"We're always enforcing these violations," said Napa-Sonoma CHP officer Jaret Paulson, who made a series of low-key stops as he drove a white cruiser through Napa city streets on a Monday morning earlier this month.

Pull over, call back or go hands-free

Motorists with hand-held cell phones were easy to spot. An alternative is to use a hands-free phone device, Paulson said.

"We've got a hands-free law that says that's still fine unless you're under 18, then no electronic devices at all when you're driving," he said.

Texting is also a hazard, and Paulson says he sees it all the time when he's driving his civilian personal vehicle.

"When you get in the patrol car, everybody's just twitching and dropping things," he said, pointing out a passing motorist who "did the cell-phone throw" when she saw the CHP cruiser.

Officers use cell phones themselves, Paulson acknowledged: "There are exceptions for us, but I try my best not to use it unless there's a radio discrepancy or a down area."

Unsafe at any speed?

While phone use is one of the main causes for distracted driving, Paulson said motorists do other risky things behind the wheel.

After one accident he investigated, he said, the motorist told him she "was just driving."

But, Paulson continued, "she had chicken and rice all over her speedometer cluster and all over the dash."

Eating while driving is not illegal in itself, but "if somebody eats food and that's a distraction, that's a problem," Paulson said.

The applicable law is the one that makes it illegal to drive at an "unsafe speed for the conditions," Paulson explained:

"Say someone's reading a book and driving with their knees: That's going to be an unsafe speed for those conditions. I would argue that the safe speed to read a book and drive a car is zero, and judges have agreed," he said.

Seat belt enforcement

Paulson said the CHP, which is funded by the state Department of Motor Vehicles, receives no revenue from any tickets it issues and has no quota for ticketing motorists.

Seat belt enforcement is a priority, he said, because the belts save lives.

"Most of our fatalities from last year were seat belt-related," he said.

The most common cause of death is ejection from the vehicle, but unbelted passengers can also become a serious hazard to others in a car during a collision.

"You are jeopardizing the safety of everybody else," he said.