CA and the term Freeway (speeding ticket, interstate, America)

[simbared]

If the California Highway Patrol became the California Freeway Patrol, we wouldn't be able to call them Chippies or CHiPs anymore. We'd have to call them C-Fips or something. Not very catchy.

[BeauCharles]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

This is an incorrect use of the term, "freeway". What you posted is the definition of a highway. Are you from CA? I mean, were you born and/or raised there? Nobody I've ever known in CA, now, or at any other time in my life, has used the term "freeway" to refer to what you describe.

I suppose you're the guy the OP is talking about, lol.

Born and raised here and use freeway and highway interchangeably... although divided limited access roads usually get called freeways, urban setting or not. Two lane roads are highways for me. For Californians I've known they generally do the same. For example, if I were on I-80 out in the middle of Nebraska at a rest stop and someone asked m "What kind of road is that?" I'd say a freeway. Or to make things even more muddled if I were asked what kind of road most of Highway 99 is I'd say a freeway.

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Picky, picky.

NO U!

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by volosong

Some freeways do allow bicycle traffic. For example, the 23 freeway between Moorpark and Thousand Oaks. The 15 freeway also allows bicycles between Barstow and the Nevada border. In such circumstances, there are no alternative routes that a bicycle could take between point A and point B, so bicycles are allowed. (In all my life, I've only seen one bicycle on the 15 out in the desert. I've ridden that 23 stretch frequently when I lived in that area.)

We routinely use 8 East heading to the desert. It's much safer than the old highway that has no bike lane.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by simbared

If the California Highway Patrol became the California Freeway Patrol, we wouldn't be able to call them Chippies or CHiPs anymore. We'd have to call them C-Fips or something. Not very catchy.

I remember seeing one of those all white cars and went

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Actually they say the 5, 101, the 405, etc. Rarely does anyone say HWY or Even Freeway.

I was talking about posts on this forum the OP could refer to, for a reality check.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Look at a map of CA. Or look up the umpteen threads on this sub-forum, where people ask how to get from LA to the Bay Area, or which route is the most scenic, for example. EVERYONE talks in terms of HWY 5", 101, "Hwy 1 through Big Sur", etc. They don't call them, "Freeway 5, Freeway 101", etc. They DO talk about local freeways, as in the Bay Area forum, "The Warren Freeway" (Oakland), and the like.

Now thats the weird California thing for me, calling Interstate 5, Highway 5. People in California don't seem to understand the difference between a Interstate highway, and a regular US or state highway. Which is kind of understandable, because in California, for the most part, they are all freeways, and they all look the same.

But the difference between a highway and a freeway is the same everywhere. A freeway is an express highway with controlled access. Highway 101 is a freeway in some places, and a regular highway in other places. Interstates are 100% freeways.

The CHP is the California Highway Patrol, because they take care of all of the roads, both highways and freeways.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Actually they say the 5, 101, the 405, etc. Rarely does anyone say HWY or Even Freeway.

True but minus "the" outside of southern California.

[Stoney.]

Here's a question once posed by the late Andy Rooney: Why do we park our cars in a "driveway" and drive our cars on a "parkway?"

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by Stoney.

Here's a question once posed by the late Andy Rooney: Why do we park our cars in a "driveway" and drive our cars on a "parkway?"

I think that technically a driveway is just a private road. Some driveways you don't park on. You just drive on it to get to a parking lot, or garage.

A parkway is a landscaped roadway. I believe called that because it resembles park land, or I guess a park for cars.

[LoriBee62]

Up here in the North Bay, we interchange the term highway and freeway when referring to the same road. Usually, when we need to specify what freeway we're talking about, we'll say "Highway 101" or "Highway 37". But if that's already presumed, we'll refer to those same highways by saying something like, "Should I take the back roads or get on the freeway?"

Like everywhere in the US, language is very regional. I suppose the use of highway vs freeway in California are as confusing to outsiders as we are confused when people in other parts of the country call all flavors of soda a "Coke".