BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1669
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1669 (Wagner)
As Amended April 1, 2014
Majority vote
TRANSPORTATION 15-0
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|Ayes:|Lowenthal, Linder, | | |
| |Achadjian, Ammiano, | | |
| |Bloom, Bonta, Buchanan, | | |
| |Daly, Frazier, Gatto, | | |
| |Holden, Wagner, Nazarian, | | |
| |Patterson, | | |
| |Quirk-Silva | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes Orange County, when conducting an
engineering and traffic survey within the unincorporated
community of Orange Park Acres, to consider equestrian safety.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes Orange County, when conducting an engineering and
traffic survey within the unincorporated community of Orange
Park Acres, to consider equestrian safety in addition to the
other factors specified in law.
2)Makes findings related to the necessity of a special law due
to unique circumstances applicable only to the unincorporated
community of Orange Park Acres and its equestrian trails.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : Existing law requires the California Department of
Transportation (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.
AB 1669
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In California and elsewhere, speed limits are generally 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 uses the 85th percentile to set speed
limits except in cases where the limit is set in state law, such
as the 25 miles per hour (MPH) limit in residence districts and
school zones, or where an engineering and traffic survey shows
that other safety-related factors suggest that a lower speed
limit is warranted. These safety-related factors, as prescribed
by law, include: accident data; highway, traffic, and roadway
conditions not readily apparent to the driver; residential
density; and pedestrian and bicyclist safety. Based on any of
these safety-related factors, Caltrans regulations allow 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
the nearest 5 MPH increment. Thus, if the survey shows an 85th
percentile speed of 32 MPH, the jurisdiction must set the speed
limit at 30 MPH. The jurisdiction may then lower the speed
limit to 25 MPH if it identifies and documents a safety-related
factor. The jurisdiction cannot lower the speed limit by more
than 5 MPH, regardless of additional safety factors. In
instances where the jurisdiction should round up to reach the
nearest 5 MPH, the MUTCD allows the jurisdiction to instead
round down, but then the jurisdiction may not reduce the posted
speed limit by 5 MPH based on a safety-related factor.
This bill would allow Orange County, when conducting an
engineering and traffic study within the community of Orange
Park Acres, to consider equestrian safety. Orange Park 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 issues listed in
statute.
Prior Legislation : AB 2402 (Rod Pacheco), Chapter 186, Statutes
of 2002, authorized the City of Norco, when conducting an
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engineering and traffic survey, to consider equestrian safety in
addition to other factors required by law.
Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0003107