Speeders to be videotaped as part of proposals

The city’s radar-equipped speed trailers tell drivers how fast they are going.

In the future, the trailers will tell the city who the drivers are and speeders caught on tape will be mailed warnings.

Parking, Traffic and Circulation Committee recommendations approved at Tuesday’s council meeting included the addition of video capability to one of the trailers.

The recommendation was one of three proposed by the committee to help slow down drivers on key hill access streets, as requested by the council.

“The PTC is trying to become more pro-active,” committee member Dennis Myers said.

“This project was tailor-made for what we are trying to do. Vic Opincar [committee chairman] did yeoman’s work.”

Public Works Director Steve May said the staff will come back to the council at budget time with estimated costs for the video installation.

The committee made two other recommendations, also augmented by staff comments (in parenthesis):

 Continue year-round monitoring of hillside and other streets with immediate enforcement where data indicates speed limits are being exceeded and appear to be a substantial problem.

Provide updates to the council and community on speed enforcement results in weekly, monthly and annual reports.

(Weekly and monthly reporting would be very time consuming to prepare and distribute. Reporting can be included in the city manager’s annual report).

 Use the Internet more aggressively to post information about speed and volumes [traffic] on neighborhood streets, including citations for violations. Use YouTube for community updates and information.

(When the city’s new website is implemented in three months, the Police Department could include a web page for this reporting. YouTube should not be used for reporting official city information because the content can be captures, modified and re-posted by others as official city information.)

May credited the committee with the work done on the report.

BARBARA DIAMOND can be reached at (949) 380-4321 or coastlinepilot@latimes.com.