SOUTH BAY SPEEDERS BEWARE CHP IS PACKING RADAR ON NEARLY ALL FREEWAYS (long)

["G.R. Steinke" <g_steinke@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Infobox: USING RADAR
The California Highway Patrol will use radar on nearly all South Bay 
freeways, highways and expressways. Warnings will be issued to most speeders 
until Dec. 1, when citation pads will be pulled out.

(box) The CHP began using radar in 1981 on some county roads and state 
highways at the request of local officials.

(box) In 1995, the CHP first tried radar on parts of Interstate 5 and 
Interstate 15. Its use on Highway 85 was approved two years later, along 
with use on a number of other freeways statewide.

(box) In addition to the South Bay, radar will be used on I-80 in the North 
Bay, on I-680 and I-505 in Solano County, on I-580 and I-680 and highways 4, 
24 and 242 in Contra Costa County, on Highway 29 in Napa County, on Highway 
101 in Sonoma County and on highways 13 and 24 and I-580 in Alameda County.

(box) Most of the CHP's 2,414 patrol units already have radar. Those that 
don't will get equipment installed at a cost of $1,848 per unit.

Silicon Valley drivers who like to rev it up, check your speedometer. And 
keep an eye out for traffic cops lurking ahead.

They're packing a new tool: radar.

For the first time, California Highway Patrol officers are using radar on 
nearly every freeway, highway and expressway in the San Jose area in the 
latest effort to crack down on aggressive drivers.

Now, along with easing off the pedal when a cop is spotted in the rear-view 
mirror, drivers will have to wonder whether a patrol car might be parked 
around the bend with a radar gun poking out the window.

''That not knowing,'' CHP officer Steve Oreglia said Wednesday, ''has a way 
of making people slow down.''

Officers began using radar in the area this week and say they will give 
warnings to all but the most flagrant speeders for the first month. Come 
Dec. 1, warnings will turn into tickets that usually run around $104 for 
first-time offenders. For drivers who have been ticketed in the past three 
years -- for any driving violation -- the cost can run several hundred 
dollars.

Until now, the CHP had used radar in the South Bay only on Highway 85 and 
the over-the-hill portion of Highway 17, plus on San Tomas and Montague 
expressways. And that came only with the backing of elected officials after 
a series of accidents on those routes.

Now, officers will be using radar on every major route in Santa Clara County 
- -- highways 87, 101 and 237 and interstates 280 and 680, plus other 
expressways. Radar will not be used on I-880 and Highway 17 from Los Gatos 
to Milpitas until signs are posted.

San Mateo County is not taking part in the campaign against speeders, though 
it could spread to other areas.

The use of radar is legal, CHP officers say, but the public backlash can 
sometimes be strong, which is why they usually ask for the support of 
elected officials.

Radar -- with increased enforcement -- has led to a dramatic change on 
Highway 17. Accidents have fallen 45 percent in the year since the CHP began 
a campaign to make the region's most dangerous highway safer.

The CHP announced a statewide campaign against road bullies before Memorial 
Day, using overtime shifts to put more officers on the highways. Radar was 
being used mainly in the North Bay and in Contra Costa County, especially 
along congested Interstate 80, where reaction has been mixed.

''Whenever we use one more tool on the freeway to slow people down, it 
helps,'' officer Fred Wold in Fairfield said. ''But there's larceny in all 
of us, and speeding continues.''

Added commuter John Pohl of Campbell:

''They put too much emphasis on speeding and not nearly enough on what I 
think causes most accidents -- tailgating, not signaling. It's almost an 
epidemic. I feel endangered by these drivers almost on a daily basis.''

But, the CHP's Oreglia said, ''speed without a doubt is the No. 1 primary 
collision factor in our area as well as most of the
state.'' And the motorist the officers will be targeting is the one going 
too fast for conditions, rapidly changing lanes and riding on someone's 
bumper.

CHP officers before had to rely on pacing -- following a car until the 
officer reaches the same speed -- to nab speeders. That is not easy to do, 
can be risky and is time-consuming. With radar, officers can ticket many 
more people in far less time and can nab drivers either ahead of or behind 
them on the road.

The statewide campaign followed a study by the National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration in which 98 percent of motorists said they feel 
something needs to be done about unsafe drivers. While the death rate on 
American roads has declined steadily over the past three decades, highway 
officials estimate that one of every three crashes and two of every three 
deaths can be directly linked to aggressive driving, and often that involves 
speed too fast for conditions.

A CHP pilot program on Interstate 15 between Barstow and the Nevada border 
led to a flurry of tickets after radar was used. But then speeding dropped 
andfewer tickets were being written.

''We will write more tickets once radar is used,'' Oreglia said. ''But 
historically over time, we've come to find out that we end up writing fewer 
tickets.''

- ------------

Historically, the CHP has not used radar - instead, they patrolled the 
freeways, pulling people over for tailgating, unsafe lane changes, and other 
dangerous driving. I even saw someone get pulled over for going too slow in 
the left lane! But not anymore - on hwy 85, where radar is now used, the CHP 
rarely patrols during commute hours (except maybe for $271 carpool lane 
tickets), since the traffic is too heavy to speed. So drivers are free to 
tailgate and so forth. They do patrol on weekends, when 95% of drivers 
exceed the 65 mph limit. Also, on Montague Expressway (cited in the 
article), they use radar on weekends. However, they rarely pull people over 
for running red lights - in fact, I've seen many people run red lights in 
full view of a police car not get tickets. Oh well, I guess the lure of easy 
$100 tickets is too much for the state to ignore.


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