2 weeks Ago
A Los Angeles City Council committee advanced a proposal Wednesday to install new signs limiting vehicular speed on 343 streets surrounding 201 schools as part of continued efforts to improve safety for students.The three-member Transportation Committee unanimously approved a resolution authorizing staff to implement 15 mph speed limits at pre-designated areas. The matter will come before the full City Council at a future meeting for a vote.
According to a representative for the department, the signs should be installed by the end of the fiscal year — within about six to 10 weeks, with $750,000 allocated for the project.Under California code, a local authority can by ordinance or resolution set a speed limit near a school that is lower than the speed limit in the surrounding neighborhood.While school zone speed limit is 25 mph, the state’s regulations allow for 15 mph school zones on streets that meet specific criteria, according to the Department of Transportation.
The reduced speed limit only applies while children are attending or leaving school.The city’s efforts are being guided by DOT’s Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan, which was introduced in 2012 to implement data-driven processes and improve safety around campuses. Department staff and Los Angeles Unified School District officials developed a methodology to identify schools in need.
In 2016, city officials established 15 mph school zone speed limits at 11 of the top 50 LAUSD schools in critical need of such safety treatments. By August 2023, another 98 street segments adjacent to 44 schools, including any of the remaining top 50 schools, were provided with updated school zone speed limits.Mayor Karen Bass’ adopted 2023-24 budget expanded funding for more school safety measures for another 201 schools.
Several of the streets are found on the city’s High Injury Network, which identifies corridors with a high concentration of collisions that result in severe injuries and deaths, as well those involving pedestrians and cyclists.An analysis found that more than 65% of all citywide severe and fatal traffic collisions involving people walking occurred on 6% of city streets. Traffic collisions were also the leading cause of death for children ages 2 to 14.
Nearly 56% of all fatal and injury collisions occurred within one-quarter mile of a school, according to DOT.Damian Kevitt, executive director of Streets Are for Everyone, in an email to CNS described the city’s plan as a safe one that sets appropriate speeds for school zones — which are in alignment with most European countries, where roads are much safer.He noted that kids are the “most vulnerable road users.
”While the city’s efforts are a good gesture, simply lowering a speed limit without also implementing traffic calming measures or increasing speed enforcement strategies often does not result in any safety improvement, he added.In recent years, the city has installed speed humps at many but not all school zones, he said.In early 2024, SAFE released a report on the city’s traffic safety strategies, giving them an “F Grade.
” A recent independent audit of L.A.’s Vision Zero, a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries by 2025, found that it failed to reduce such dangers.
Former Mayor Eric Garcetti implemented the Vision Zero plan in 2015, but during the first two years there were a total of 245 and 241 traffic-related deaths, respectively, involving drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. In 2022 and 2023, there were 368 and 333 traffic-related deaths, respectively. According to 2024 preliminary data, those figures stood at more than 300.
Under Vision Zero, the city attempted to implement so-called “road diets” in some areas — reducing traffic lanes on some streets in favor of dedicated bike and pedestrian corridors — but such efforts were met with anger by motorists suddenly stuck in slow traffic. The outcry was so great that the city removed the traffic-calming measures in Playa Vista.“Reducing school zone speed limits is a good gesture and necessary, but there is so much more the city could and should be doing to save lives on our roads,” Kevitt said.
SAFE has stated that the most significant factors contributing to dangerous streets and traffic violence in Los Angeles are speeding and distracted driving. Kevitt said the city, for the most part, is not addressing these issues.“This is NOT rocket science, but it does require leadership and political will to prioritize the right of people to live over the right of drivers to drive dangerously fast while texting and watching TikTok videos,” Kevitt added.
With the city facing a deficit in the upcoming fiscal year and Bass proposing layoffs, Kevitt said there will likely be even more cuts to the already “crippled traffic safety section of LA DOT.”He noted that LA could bring in more funding via AB 645, a speed safety system pilot program approved in 2023, yet continues to drag its heels.Related ArticlesLos Angeles residents and labor unions react to Mayor Bass’ proposed budgetWhat you need to know about Mayor Bass’ proposed FY25-26 budgetLos Angeles considers Hanoi sister city partnership to encourage dog meat banLos Angeles trash collection fees will jump to $55.
95 for all householdsLA City Council moves to prohibit 2 offensive words during meetingsLA is among eight cities in California authorized to set up speed cameras at 125 locations such as school zones, dangerous roads and known street racing corridors. Drivers going 10 mph over the speed limit would be automatically ticketed. Any revenue from these tickets would directly fund traffic safety improvements in neighborhoods.
Such a program would be overseen by the transportation department rather than police, according to AB 645. Cities could reduce fines for low-income residents or offer them community service hours instead.“Right now, LA is determined to be the last to implement its program,” Kevitt said in his email.
“This is nuts and another example of the lack of leadership on this deadly problem.”.
