Speed Limit

Gretchen Hoffman NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- A disastrous street race combined with a recent increase in the speed limit have Glendale Police out in increased numbers on Glenoaks Boulevard. In what police have described as a near-fatal accident, a Hoover High student, 17, lost control of his car during a street race on Jan. 29 and wrapped the vehicle around a palm tree. No one has been charged in the incident, but the seriousness of the accident was a catalyst for increased enforcement on Glenoaks Boulevard, police said.

SPEED LAW ENDORSEMENT The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to support a proposed state law that would double the penalties for drivers caught speeding more than 25 mph over the posted speed limit. Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, whose district includes Glendale, is trying to shore up support for his bill, Assembly Bill 2669, which would double the penalty for drivers who exceed the speed limit by 26 mph or more and put them on a faster path to a suspended license.

The time to crack down on speeders in Glendale and Burbank is long overdue. Many have rightly asked how many must be injured or killed before we find a way to stop the reckless driving we see on our streets every day. A bill that Assemblyman Paul Krekorian is proposing may not stop the fatal phenomenon, but it is a step in the right direction. Krekorian’s legislation would double the penalty points for drivers who are caught going more than 26 mph over the posted speed limit, putting these reckless drivers on a faster track to a suspended license.

Kudos to M. Bernard Williams for his commentary in the Jan. 22 edition of the Glendale News-Press. He is absolutely right about more enforcement of the speed limit on our city streets. I am going to add some items he left out. Drivers are changing lanes on surface streets without signaling before they change lanes or do so when they are halfway into the lane they've chosen. This is bad enough, but worse on freeways where the speed limit is higher, and the risk goes up!

Josh Kleinbaum Officials from La Canada Flintridge promised that they have not forgotten residents' safety concerns along Angeles Crest Highway, even though it has been nine months since they first made it a priority. The city is investigating the best way to keep drivers below the 45 mph speed limit on the narrow, windy road. "That issue hasn't died," Director of Public Works Steve Castellanos said. "Having just one traffic engineer, we can get inundated with calls.

Janine Marnien The speed limits on Angeles Crest Highway could be dropping if the City Council and staff get their way. The City Council heard the results of a four-month study performed by the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station at its meeting Tuesday, which was conducted after the city received several complaints from residents. "Angeles Crest Highway has been the second-busiest forest since the Northridge quake," Capt. Ralph Martin told the council.

Some laws can be nonsensical and obsolete. But once they are in the books, instead of revising them, we often choose to ignore them. If you’ve ever driven on Chevy Chase Drive and have tried to actually stick to the 15-mph speed limit, you’d know exactly what I mean. Going up to my friend’s house, I followed all the posted speed limits last week. First there was the 35-mph speed limit. Fair enough, it was manageable. Then there was the 25-mph speed limit.

When I was driving along Mountain and Stocker streets yesterday, I came upon the weirdest traffic-calming measures I have ever seen. Approaching the intersection, there were short poles, forcing traffic into the center of the street. These were followed by tall poles arranged in a pattern in the intersection, forcing traffic to slow and go around them. All of these poles were bright colors to make them highly visible. In addition, there were signs -- also bright colors -- with some indicating the speed limit and some with arrows showing how to proceed around the poles.

SOUTHWEST GLENDALE -- A 59-year-old Glendale man survived a full-speed collision with a car Tuesday night. The man, who was not named by police because of confusion over his identity, was crossing Los Feliz Boulevard at Gardena Avenue at about 6:35 p.m. when he was struck by a champagne-colored Toyota Corolla traveling west on Los Feliz, Glendale Police Sgt. Lewie Guay said. "He was crossing at an area where there are 'no crossing' signs posted on both sides of the street," Guay said, noting that a crosswalk was located on the opposite, east side of Los Feliz.