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; AB 529 (GATTO) Page 2 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 AB 529 (GATTO) Page 3 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 AB 529 (GATTO) Page 4 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. AB 529 (GATTO) Page 5