Next Blip on Radar Screen: Rossmoor Speeders

If residents and visitors to the small town of Rossmoor do not curb their speeding habits by early next year, they might be in for a hefty citation.

The California Highway Patrol is awaiting approval for radar-equipped patrol vehicles to police the unincorporated residential area. Requests from community members spurred the CHP to take action. Officers are hoping to post signs by January or sooner, according to Officer Denise Medina.

There will be a 30-day warning period when the radar will be used only to issue warnings, Medina said. After that, citations will be issued.

“It’s not a matter of catching anybody,” she said. “It’s just making the community safer. It’s a very family-oriented community, and there are just some thoroughfares that . . . people speed up and down.”

At various community meetings, residents complained about excessive speeds during morning and afternoon rush hours coinciding with parents dropping off and picking up their children at schools.

A traffic commission was established by the Rossmoor Homeowners Assn. after the dangerous situation was noted.

Erwin Anisman said this is all part of a campaign to slow down drivers, especially on streets that have fairly long stretches without stop signs.

The director of the association said those streets, some of which are close to schools, include Foster Road, Copa de Ora Drive, Montecito Road, Hedwig Road, Wallingsford Road and Bostonian Drive.

Patrol vehicles will have radar installed front and back. They will be driven by radar-certified officers, who must undergo 54 hours of training.

Medina stressed that citations will not be given based solely on radar readings; radar, she noted, is only one of several enforcement tools officers use before issuing a ticket.

“If the beam bounces back at 85 and it seems like it was 50, we would not issue a ticket,” she said.

There is a possibility a telephone pole or other object could have interfered with the radar beam, she said.

The officer would probably pace the car in question and also use his or her experience to estimate the speed.

Russ Lightcap, chairman of the association’s traffic committee, said he hates having to resort to this means of enforcement but thinks it will raise awareness of driving habits.

“I’d rather have people take responsibility for what they do,” he said. “But when people get kind of used to going fast, 25 seems like crawling.”

Some may see radar as an infringement, said Jim Alexander, director of the Rossmoor Community Services District.

Although in favor of using radar, he said he is a little skeptical of how effective it can be.

Ana Cholo-Tipton can be reached at (714) 966-5890.