Another not-a-school-zone speed limit
An NMA member asked a question a lot more of us should be asking: is this really a school zone? As you enter Daly City, California from the east the speed limit on the four lane road drops from 45 to a 25 mph school zone. Except it isn’t a school zone: there is no […]
Another suspect speed survey
A routine item caught my eye. Pasadena, California did a speed limit review. I’ve learned that the pile of words and figures in such reviews often obscures violations of the law. Most cities review speed limits every five years to comply with the speed trap law. (Or, in the case of Los Angeles, they don’t […]
How Campbell, California breaks the speed trap law
I may be returning to Campbell, California, and this time I decided to check out the city’s speed survey first. How else could I know what the speed limit signs really mean? California has strict rules governing city speed limits. Hopefully after seeing what I did you’ll be able to repeat the process with your […]
When is a 25 zone not a 25 zone?
I know a guy who got a warning for going 45 in a 55 zone. The officer thought he was giving a break to somebody going 20 over. His city suffered from a delusion I’ve mentioned before, that speed limits are determined by corporate limits rather than by road conditions. That isn’t true in California, […]
More from the “missing the point” department
A resident of La Jolla, California persuaded the traffic board to block a speed limit increase on the grounds that the legally required measurement of the speed of free-flowing traffic measured the speed of free-flowing traffic. To avoid biasing results of a routine speed survey the city turned off speed feedback signs. That’s what they’re […]
More excuses
Engineering judgment… factors not apparent… curves… driveways… transition… because we want to. Reading speed limit studies for California cities reminded me of the excuses engineers use when they don’t want to do their job. Based on an unscientific survey, about two-thirds of California municipal traffic engineers and consultants aren’t doing their job. Or they consider […]
A city council suffers speed limit regret
It was otherwise an ordinary story about a reluctant California city forced to comply with the speed trap law. One thing stood out. Santa Monica councilors wanted to repeal a speed limit set based on an engineering study and replace it with a lower statutory speed limit. Obviously they shouldn’t do that. But can they? This […]
From the “missing the point” department
A Bay Area reporter is scared because a safety improvement program worked. I’ve read dozens of similar stories. This one is from the Golden Gate Bridge where a movable median barrier was installed to prevent head-on crashes. Traffic is safer and people are now driving faster on the divided highway. Win-win, right? Get there safer […]