By Town Crier Staff Report

Los Altos motorists will have to drop their speeds by 5 mph along Springer Road. The Los Altos City Council decided to change the posted speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph after a new California law made it legal for police to use radar in the lower speed zone.

The council had increased the speed limit on this section of Springer in 1999 in order to legally allow police to use radar. Under the state law at that time, police officers were prohibited from using radar to enforce the speed limit unless the posted speed limit was within 5 mph of what 85 percent of motorists on that particular road traveled. The 85th percentile on Springer between Foothill Expressway and Covington Road was recorded at 33 mph, according to the study conducted by Traffic Data Service.

Police said this means if 85 percent of the drivers travel 34 mph on Springer, which has a posted 25 mph speed limit, police would not be able to use radar to ticket because the disparity between the posted speed limit and the surveyed speed limit would lead to tickets that would be thrown out of court.

Since that time, the California Legislature passed AB2767 allowing cities to use other factors, such as pedestrian and bicycle safety and residential density, when setting speed limits that could be radar enforceable when the survey supports a higher speed limit.

The council recently used the law changes to enforce a 25 mph speed limit on El Monte Avenue using radar.

The council agreed that the street meets the law’s residential density and pedestrian safety requirements since the boundaries of Springer, Loyola and Blach Junior High schools span this portion of Springer.

A city survey showed that traffic speeds had remained unchanged on Springer Road.