May 31, 2018 CIS Opposing CF 18-0002-S20 Submitted 5/31/2018

Contact Information

Neighborhood Council: North Hills West Neighborhood Council
Name: Dan Gibson
Phone Number: (818) 903-2259
Email: dgibson.nhwnc@gmail.com
The Board approved this CIS by a vote of: Yea(11) Nay(1) Abstain(0) Ineligible(0) Recusal(0)                                  Date of NC Board Action: 03/15/2018
Type of NC Board Action: Against

Impact Information
Date: 05/31/2018
Update to a Previous Input: No
Directed To: City Council and Committees Council File Number: 18-0002-S20                                                          Agenda Date:
Item Number:
Summary:

The North Hills West Neighborhood Council opposes Council File 18-0002-S20 (Englander): Resolution that the City of Los Angeles includes into its 2017-2018 State Legislative Program SUPPORT for legislation and/or administrative action that would increase local control of speed limit setting and enforcement. Setting speed limits within about 5 mph of the 85th percentile speed has been proven to be the safest and most equitable way to set speed limits. It is well known that motorists’ travel speeds in free-flow conditions are based on the roadway geometry, roadside development, weather conditions, and other observable factors, not the posted speed limit. All credible studies have shown that raising or lowering the posted speed limit on urban and rural nonlimited access highways has minimal effect on the travel speeds of the vast majority of roadway

users. The effect of increasing local control of speed limit setting and enforcement would be to allow local authorities to set speed limits significantly below the 85th percentile speed making violators out of the vast majority of drivers on some roadways. This is the very definition of a speed trap. Creating large numbers of speed violators also makes the task of enforcing speed limits much more difficult as it forces law enforcement to concentrate on a much greater number of drivers exceeding the speed limit. This decreases safety as the worst offenders, who are truly outliers traveling at an unsafe speed, can escape detection while police are concentrating on other, less dangerous drivers. By causing drivers to hyper-focus on their speed rather than take a more holistic approach to the driving task, roadway safety would be significantly decreased. This is similar to the effects of distracted driving on roadway safety. We urge you to oppose any legislation that would increase local control of speed limit setting.