BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: AB 529
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: gatto
VERSION: 5/3/11
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 14, 2011
SUBJECT:
Speed limits
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires the Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
to revise its regulations so that state and local authorities
have greater flexibility in setting speed limits on roads under
their jurisdictions.
ANALYSIS:
Existing California law requires Caltrans after consultation
with local agencies and public hearings, to adopt rules and
regulations that prescribe uniform standards and specifications
for traffic control devices, including the posting of speed
limits. Caltrans adopts these rules as the California Manual on
Uniform Traffic Control Devices (the California MUTCD), which
among other things, prescribes the process for setting speed
limits in this state.
Speed limits are generally -- in California and elsewhere -- set
in accordance with engineering and traffic surveys, which
measure prevailing vehicular speeds and establish the limit at
or near the 85th percentile (i.e., the speed that 15% of
motorists exceed). California law uses the 85th percentile to
set speed limits, except in cases where:
The limit is set in state law, such as the 65 MPH limit on
divided highways, 55 MPH on an undivided highway, 25 MPH in
residence districts, and 25 MPH in school zones; or
An engineering and traffic survey shows that other
safety-related factors suggest a lower speed limit to be
appropriate. These safety-related factors are accident data;
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highway, traffic, and roadway conditions not readily apparent
to the driver; residential density; and pedestrian and
bicyclist safety. Based on these safety-related factors,
Caltrans regulations permit a local jurisdiction to reduce a
speed limit by 5 MPH from the 85th percentile.
In cases where the 85th percentile speed is not an increment of
5 MPH, the California MUTCD directs a jurisdiction to round to
nearest 5 MPH increment. Thus, if the survey shows an 85th
percentile speed of 34 MPH, the jurisdiction must set the speed
limit at 35 MPH. The jurisdiction may lower that speed limit by
5 MPH (i.e., to 30 MPH) if it identifies and documents a
safety-related factor. The jurisdiction cannot, however, lower
the speed limit by more than 5 MPH, regardless of additional
safety factors.
This bill :
1.Requires that Caltrans revise the California MUTCD to require
Caltrans and local authorities to round speed limits to the
nearest 10 kilometers per or hour (KPH) or 5 MPH of the 85th
percentile speed.
2.Allows, in instances where Caltrans or the local authority
should round up to reach the nearest 5 MPH, that Caltrans or
the local authority may instead round down but then may not
reduce the posted speed limit by a 5 MPH increment for a
safety-related factor. (Thus in the example above where the
85th percentile speed is 34 MPH, the authority may set a speed
limit of 30 MPH, but may not also further reduce that speed by
an additional 5 MPH due to a safety factor).
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . The author notes that prior to 2004, a local
government could set speed limits within 5 MPH of the 85th
percentile, which allowed local governments to round speed
limits down. In 2004, Caltrans changed the wording of the
California MUTCD so that an authority setting speed limits not
prescribed in statute should set those speed limits at the
nearest 5 MPH increment of the 85th percentile and so that an
authority had to provide written demonstration of the
safety-related factor to lower that speed limit by an
additional 5 MPH due to that factor. In 2009, Caltrans
changed its MUTCD again to require, rather than just
recommend, that a state or local authority set speed limits to
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the nearest 5 MPH increment.
The author notes that Caltrans made the change from "within"
to the "nearest" 5 MPH increment in anticipation of change in
the federal rules that guide the process states use to set
speed limits. The author notes that the change in the federal
rules never came to fruition. Further, the proponents report
that local governments have found providing written evidence
of a safety-related factor to satisfy the courts that speed
limits need to be lowered has proven difficult and costly.
The idea, however, of raising speed limits remains onerous to
city councils and local authorities. The author introduced
this bill to give local governments the authority to round up
or down to a 5 MPH increment.
2.Informational hearing . During the 2009-10 legislative
session, speed limit bills failed passage in both this
committee and in the Assembly Transportation Committee. As a
result, in the fall of 2009, the two committees held a joint
informational hearing entitled, "Setting Speed Limits in
California." The committees heard substantive testimony
demonstrating that the majority of motorists (85%) will drive
at a rate of speed at which they feel safe and that speed
limits serve a coordinating function by reducing dispersion in
driving speed and the risk of conflict between vehicles.
The committees also heard evidence that artificially lowering
speed limits below the 85th percentile does not reduce speeds
but instead only increases violations and can create a speed
trap, a method by which municipalities may raise revenue but
which are illegal under California law. Witnesses presented
further evidence at the joint hearing that showed increased
enforcement, combined with traffic calming measures (center
islands, curb extensions, speed humps, etc.), was the most
effective method of changing driver behavior and reducing
driver speed.
3.Why the 85th percentile ? Establishing speed limits at the
85th percentile is based on the assumption that the majority
of motorists drive at a speed that is reasonable and prudent
for roadway and vehicular conditions. The 85th percentile
represents one standard deviation above the average speed and
establishes an upper limit on what is considered reasonable
and prudent.
Furthermore, speed limits depend on voluntary compliance by
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the majority of drivers. Speed limits that are set
arbitrarily low would make violators out of the majority of
drivers and may cause drivers to disregard the limit
altogether.
4.Chaptering out amendment . This bill and AB 345 (Atkins),
which is also pending in this committee, amend the same
section of the Vehicle Code, but are otherwise not in
conflict. If these two bills continue to move through the
Legislature, the authors will need to amend them to ensure
that should both be signed into law, the second bill signed
does not chapter out the first.
5.Technical amendment . This bill sets speed limits to "the
nearest 10 kilometers per hour or 5 miles per hour." As 10
KPH and 5 MPH are not exactly the same increment of speed, and
as all other provisions of the California Vehicle Code are in
MPH, the author or committee may wish to amend this bill to
strike the references to 10 kilometers per hour.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 77-0
Appr: 16-0
L Gov: 9-0
Trans: 13-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 8,
2011)
SUPPORT: City of El Cajon
City of Glendale
City of Long Beach
City of Pasadena
City of Paso Robles
City of Santa Rosa
City of Thousand Oaks
League of California Cities
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Ventura County Sheriff's Office
OPPOSED: None received.
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