Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Tuesday Tip - Speed Trap or Speed Enforcement?

Do you feel the need, the need for speed? Toyota Speedway at Irwindale can always provide a good outlet. But definitely not on our City streets or local freeways.

When folks ask questions of an Officer, speed is often a topic of conversation and debate. The best answer is to obey the speed limits and you will never have a problem. Too often, drivers feel that because the "flow" of traffic is faster, or "everyone" is speeding, then it is perhaps OK to drive fast. The DMV does a nice job of summarizing and explaining speed limits in California.

A phrase that is often tossed around and usually not understood is "speed trap". Many drivers feel that when a speed limit appears to be posted too low or an Officer is perceived to be "hiding", then this equates to a speed trap. Not so. California and Federal law dictate how roadway speed limits are posted. If radar or laser is used for speed enforcement, roadways require speed surveys. Contrary to what a particular website will profess, the usual belief that you have fallen victim to a speed trap is false. APD has several entries on the site and it demonstrates that we are making an impact.

Speed limits are a hot topic right now as California is being forced to fall more in line with Federal guidelines. The PSN has run stories on area cities fighting this battle of late, to include Pasadena and South Pasadena. We will see how this plays out for Arcadia in the future.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish Arcadia had more speed traps in some of the residential areas, especially around the schools.

There is a lot of dangerous driving going on.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, the dangerous drivers around the schools are far too often the parents or people who live nearby!

APD Sarge said...

The areas around our schools and surrounding neighborhoods receive a great deal of attention from our Traffic Officers. With the number of public and private schools in town, our efforts get spread thin. As noted in the above comment, it is true that most violators stopped near schools are often parents or those dropping off/picking up students.

Our efforts each year are on-going to improve efforts in "traffic safety" Education, Enforcement and Engineering...these programs are just a couple more tools at our disposal.