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Published on 12/22/1999 All articles from this issue

Los Altos raises speed limit, hopes to ticket more speeders

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By Linda Taaffe / Town Crier Staff Writer

Alocal speed limit just went up in Los Altos. At its Dec. 14 meeting, the Los Altos City Council agreed to raise the speed limit on Springer Road from 25 mph to 30 mph - a change necessary in order to lower the average speed of motorists who use the street, according to city officials.

It may sound backward, but city officials are apparently doing it to get after more speeders.

Under state law, police officers are prohibited from using radar to enforce the speed limit unless the posted speed limit is within 5 mph of what 85 percent of the motorists on that particular road travel. According to police, this means if 85 percent of the drivers travel 34 mph on Springer, which has a posted 25 mph speed limit, police may not use radar to ticket because the disparity between the posted speed limit and the surveyed speed limit would lead to tickets which are thrown out of court.

The posted speed limit must be 30 mph - 5 mph within the surveyed speed limit - before police may use radar, under state law.

Police officers may pace, or follow, cars to enforce speed limits - a practice they say is not practical.

City officials said the theory of raising the limit is that more speeders will be ticketed and the speed motorists travel will drop overall. If successful, the expectation is that the city will be able to drop the posted speed limit back to 25 mph and continue using radar, officials say.

"Without the ability to use radar, it's virtually impossible to enforce the 25 mph speed limit," said Captain Cliff Balch. "The only way to do this is to raise the limit and aggressively enforce it."

According to a 1996 Speed Zone Study, two portions of Springer were among the nine road sections in Los Altos where the speed of 85 percent of the drivers differed from the posted speed by more than 5 mph.

The 85th percentile on Springer between Foothill Expressway and Covington Road was recorded at 33 mph, and at 34 mph between Covington and Cuesta Drive, according to the study conducted by Traffic Data Service.

Traffic analysts obtained the information in the study from sample speeds of at least 50 vehicles and by clocking traffic for a minimum of three hours at each area studied.

In addition to surveying driving speeds, the analysts reviewed each street's traffic accident history over a three-year period. Springer had six recorded accidents in the portion between Foothill and Covington, and four accidents between Covington and Cuesta.

Some residents were concerned about the long-term effects of raising the speed limit, saying it could worsen the situation by encouraging motorists to drive faster if police enforcement is not aggressive.

"If you post 30 mph and don't enforce it, that sends an extremely foul message," said Kurt Ayers, chairman of the Neighborhood Traffic Advisory Task Force which recommended the that city look at raising speed limits for better enforcement. "There's a behavior pattern on that road that needs to be broken."

Councilman King Lear said without enforcement, the problem will expand until the city loses control of monitoring speed limits.

"The sign itself means nothing unless you enforce it," he said.

The city also is studying ways to control the speed on El Monte Avenue, another area where 85 percent of the motorists drive more than 5 mph above the posted speed limit.