Volunteers to Check Drivers’ Speed

Within two weeks, volunteers equipped with radar guns will lie in wait on Northam Avenue, checking for drivers exceeding the neighborhood’s 25-mph speed limit.

The residents will be the first trained by city officials in the Neighborhood Speed Awareness Program, an effort by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and the city of Thousand Oaks.

If the program is effective during a six-month trial period, it will be extended to other Thousand Oaks areas. Residents of 12 neighborhoods have expressed interest, said Public Works Director Donald Nelson.

On Northam Avenue, residents will record descriptions of speeders’ vehicles, their license plates and their speeds.

The information will be turned over to authorities, who are likely to send the drivers reminders to obey traffic laws. No citations will be issued.

“A lot of new residents and people who drive through there don’t realize that there are a lot of children and that it is a residential area,” said Peter Ackermann, who lives on Northam Avenue and has noticed that drivers use it to avoid the speed bumps on wider, neighboring streets.

“I think initially it will help, especially if the letter is worded strongly enough.”