BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 1669
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: wagner
VERSION: 6/17/14
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: NO
Hearing date: June 24, 2014
SUBJECT:
Speed limits: Orange Park Acres
DESCRIPTION:
This bill allows Orange County, when setting speed limits within
the unincorporated community of Orange Park Acres, to consider
equestrian safety.
ANALYSIS:
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 miles per hour
(mph) limit on divided highways, 55 mph on an undivided
highway, 25 mph in residence districts, and 25 mph in school
zones.
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;
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, a jurisdiction rounds to the nearest 5 mph increment.
Thus, if the survey shows an 85th percentile speed of 34 mph,
the jurisdiction sets the speed limit at 35 mph. The
jurisdiction may lower that speed limit by 5 mph (i.e., to 30
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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.
Alternatively, the jurisdiction can round down rather than to
the nearest 5 mph increment (i.e., to 30 mph), but then cannot
also apply a safety-related factor to lower that speed limit
further.
Finally, state law permits the City of Norco to use equestrian
safety as a safety-related factor in engineering and traffic
studies.
This bill allows Orange County, when setting speed limits on the
public streets within the common-interest development of Orange
Park Acres, to use equestrian safety as a safety-related factor
in order to decrease posted speed limits by 5 mph from the 85th
percentile speed.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . Orange Park Acres is an unincorporated community in
Orange County that has an extensive network of equestrian
trails. Residents frequently travel through the community by
horse, often traversing the same roads as vehicles. The
community would like the county to consider the safety of
equestrian users in determining speed limits on public roads
within the community, but the county is currently limited to
considering only the safety-related factors listed in statute.
This bill allows Orange County to consider equestrian safety
when posting speed limits in Orange County Acres.
2.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 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.
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3.Lower speed limits ? Proponents believe that this bill will
allow Orange County to post legally 5 mph lower speed limits
on the streets in Orange Park Acres. It is unclear, however,
whether this bill will actually allow that or not. State law
allows a jurisdiction to either:
Round down to a lower 5 mph increment if the 5 mph speed
nearest the 85th percentile would require rounding up
(i.e., when the 85th percentile speed is 34 mph, the
jurisdiction can legally post 30 mph, but no lower)
Lower a speed limit by one 5-mph increment in
consideration of any or all specified safety-related
factors that suggest a lower speed, and only when the
jurisdiction can show that the factor - such as pedestrian
traffic - has had safety consequences
It is unclear whether Orange County can show that horses
adjacent to the road present a safety issue even with this
bill, as Orange County public works staff reports that there
are no current safety-related factors that traffic engineers
consider applicable on the main thoroughfare through Orange
Park Acres, which is a wide, open road with good visibility.
That staff further reports that spot surveys show that the
current 85th percentile speed may be well above the current
posted speed limit, such that undertaking a new engineering
and traffic survey would result in a higher posted speed, even
if the county can, because of this bill, apply a safety
related reduction of 5 mph to that new 85th percentile speed.
1.Who's speeding in Orange Park Acres ? Orange County traffic
engineering staff report that surveys show that 90% of traffic
on Orange Park Boulevard, the main thoroughfare in the
community, is made up of Orange Park Acres residents. Rather
than lowering speed limits by 5 mph on this road and other
roads in Orange Park Acres, as this bill may allow, the county
and community organization may wish to explore educational and
engineering options that could better serve the desire of
residents to lower speeds on the roads. Options include:
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Creating a physical barrier such as a fence or guard
rail where horse trails are particularly close to a roadway
with high vehicle speeds
Slowing traffic near horse trails and their crossings
with physical changes to the road, such as "rumble strips,"
Botts' dots, or bulb-outs to narrow the traffic lanes
Stopping traffic at equestrian crossings either with
stop signs, yield signs, or equestrian-activated stop
lights
Re-routing horse trails away from the roads
1.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 is 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.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 74-0
Trans: 15-0
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday, June 18,
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2014.)
SUPPORT: Association of California Cities - Orange County
Orange Park Association
OPPOSED: None received.