speed limits

While most California cyclists are thrilled that the Senate and Assembly agree that car drivers should give cyclists a three foot berth when speeding past them, the legislative session in Sacramento was mostly positive, but still somewhat mixed.  As the Senate and Assembly prepare to go into recess, here's where many important pieces of legislation that pertain to traffic safety, and livable and complete streets stand.

It's hardly a state secret that California's speed limit laws are designed to increase traffic speed at the expense of communities and urban design. AB 529, a hot piece of legislation by Assemblyman Mike Gatto that already quietly cleared the State Assembly, seeks to give communities a little more leeway in setting local speed limits.  The Senate has yet to assign the bill to committee, but Senate Transportation Committee staff have told me they're expecting it "any day now."

The Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) is like a daughter of Caltrans. The mothership builds the roads, then Traffic Safety comes on the scene, addressing the safety deficits with education and enforcement efforts. The OTS conference, scheduled every other year, is a forum which unites local government, safety advocates, and a whole lot of police officers. MADD, Mothers against Drunk Driving, set the tone. The 2011 Leadership Seminar was held last week in San Diego. The agency offers a number of scholarships covering tuition, travel and accommodation. I attended the Bicycle and Pedestrian track, other tracks covered DUI, drug impairment, collision investigation, engineering and leadership.

Last night, ABC's sit-com Modern Family showed "Slow Down Your Neighbors," a re-run of an episode that deals with both the joys of cycling and the danger that speeding drivers create on local streets.  A show that takes place in Los Angeles that shows children biking to school to fit in with the cool crowd and excoriates unsafe drivers?

Yesterday, we discussed how a change in the threshold for a crime to be considered "Grand Theft" could impact cyclists who find their bikes stolen.  Today, we'll look at how a series of new laws could make our streets safer and more sustainable.

View Speed Limit Increases, LA City Council 11/10/10 in a larger map

Earlier this month, the New York City Department of Transportation announced plans to experiment with 20 mph zones -- replacing the city's default 30 mph speed limit in one pilot neighborhood. Whoever gets the first 20 mph treatment will see benefits that residents of British cities and towns have become increasingly familiar with in recent years.

This Wednesday at 2:00 P.M., the Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee meets to deal with a backlog of speed limit increases and setting "prima facie" limits on several other streets.

On March 24, the City Council Transportation Committee, partially at the urging of Councilman Paul Krekorian, tabled three proposals to increase speed limits for three streets in the San Ferndando Valley.  The increases for Arleta Avenue, Sheldon Street and Hollywood Way were previously discussed in this Streetsblog article.  There's nothing new to report on these proposals, they're the same as they were three months ago, another limit proposal has found its way onto the Council agenda for this Wednesday's meeting.  This proposal would set the speed limit for Hatteras Street., between Hazeltine and Sepulveda, at thirty miles per hour.