Speed Limits Inch Upward in Many Cities : Traffic: Little-known rules require that limits be set at level most motorists travel. Activists say too many accidents result.

Over the last decade, a stretch of 17th Street in Santa Ana has come to resemble an expressway more than an uptown avenue, with speeds increasing from an average of 41 in 1987 to 47 in 1997.

So the city did what has become common practice among California traffic engineers: It raised the speed limit.

Now motorists are permitted to drive 40 mph, a 5 mph increase, despite more than 40 injury accidents a year.

The city, which has the highest pedestrian fatality rate in Southern California, has raised the speed limits on dozens of its major roads in the last few years, including some in its most accident-prone areas. On a one-mile stretch of Warner Avenue, the number of accidents has nearly doubled since the city hiked speeds about two years ago, records show.

Cities across California have gradually boosted speed limits over the last decade, saying the state’s little-known methodology gives them little choice.

The rules require that limits be set at or near the speed traveled by 85% of motorists, unless the area has major safety problems.

Citing the law, Orange raised the speed limits on 75% of its streets in 1994 despite protests from residents who feared it would cause more accidents. Between 1995 and 1998, the number of serious accidents citywide rose 21% to 846, according to an analysis of state accident records.

Many traffic engineers say the methodology makes sense. Most drivers, they say, travel at speeds considered appropriate; therefore, speed limits should reflect driver behavior.

But others say the regulations are inherently flawed, essentially permitting motorists to set rates by “putting their right foot on the gas pedal.”

“The problem with the California law is that it binds the hands of traffic engineers,” said Richard Retting, a traffic engineer for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “This policy encourages speed and requires that engineers set speed limits high when drivers drive fast. That’s probably not the safest policy.”

Cities reevaluate their speed limits every five years, changing them if surveys indicate a shift in car speeds and accident rates. If a speed limit is out of date or set lower than the 85% rule, judges can throw out speeding tickets issued on that road.

The regulations do not always result in increases. In some congested areas and on narrow streets, speed limits have decreased.

But it’s the rising limits that are sparking concern.

Santa Ana Leads in Speed Limit Increases

In some cities, such as Newport Beach, officials have decided to maintain the lower speed limits on certain streets and forgo issuing speeding tickets, which would likely be tossed out by a judge.

Santa Ana’s streets have experienced more speed limit increases than any other community in the state in recent years. Since 1987, about 70 of the city’s 177 limits on nonresidential streets have been modified, nearly two-thirds of them upward.

About a third of all fatal pedestrian accidents in the past three years have occurred on streets where limits were increased.

* On a portion of 17th Street, three people suffered injuries in the 17 months before the limit was raised in 1997; in the same period after the increase, four more people were struck by cars, one of them fatally. The total accident rate remained basically unchanged.

* On a portion of Warner Avenue, four people were injured in the 17 months before the increase, and seven more during the same period after the increase. Total accidents jumped from 14 before the increase to 27 afterward.

* On one stretch of West 1st Street, the city raised the speed limit from 35 to 40 mph even though it has the highest pedestrian fatality rate in the city. According to city records, traffic engineers cited a “low accident rate” in justifying the change.

Two people died and two were severely injured in the 17 months before the speed limit jump. In the following 17 months, two more died and another three suffered severe injuries. Overall accidents dipped during the period from 65 to 60.

Pedestrian safety groups ask why officials raised limits on streets where accidents are a problem.

“Traffic engineers still only think of moving cars, and don’t recognize that streets are also for people,” said Gloria Ohland, a spokeswoman for the Surface Transportation Policy Project, a Washington-based consortium of environmental and community groups.

“They should at least slow the traffic down, at least since this law allows an escape clause,” she said. “I think they should reexamine that quickly.”

Residents along 17th Street hold similar views. “They should have kept the limits like they were,” said Karina Perez, 22, who lives just off the thoroughfare.

Speeds on the street reach their peak outside her apartment. She places her baby’s crib along an interior wall in fear that a car may crash through the building.

“Even though it’s a major street, people and children live around here,” she said.

City officials strongly defend their actions. They say limit hikes on major streets have prompted very few formal complaints. Furthermore, the city’s actions comply with speed zoning regulations that don’t provide much leeway in setting rates.

“We really can’t do much because the law is clear on how to set speed limits,” said Ruth Smith, an associate traffic engineer.

Even though pedestrians have been injured or killed on West 1st Street, as well as other roads with higher limits, engineers say the accident rates are still not high enough to justify rate reductions. Engineers, however, say they do not shy away from lowering limits if accident rates do reach a high level as defined by state guidelines.

According to the 1997 speed survey report, limits were reduced by 5 mph on six streets where engineers cited high accident rates. Among the streets affected were: Bristol Street between Edinger and Segerstrom avenues; Edinger between Fairview and Bristol streets; and Broadway between Edinger and Main Street.

T.C. Sutaria, the city’s traffic engineer, said lowering limits would not necessarily lead to slower speeds. Most drivers, he said, are oblivious to posted limits, preferring to drive at a rate with which they are comfortable.

Lowering limits would make violators out of the majority of motorists, he said.

The biggest problem with keeping speed limits artificially low, officials said, is that courts will not honor speeding tickets.

California is one of only a few states that allow motorists to challenge speeding violations on nonresidential streets. In most states, posted rates are considered absolute limits and, in general, cannot be fought in court.

But California motorists can argue that the speed traveled, even if above the posted limit, is safe for the existing conditions. They can also raise questions about the accuracy of the police radar results. Sometimes the arguments are successful.

“Most of the time the safe speed is the speed limit,” said Cheryl L. Leininger, a court commissioner in Santa Ana.

She added, however, that in some cases exceeding the limit “doesn’t necessarily mean that it was unsafe for the conditions at the time.”

Leininger, who has heard thousands of speeding cases, said she upholds the majority of violations, and that most are citations for driving more than 10 mph over the limit.

No Ticketing on Some Streets

State law prohibits police from using radar to enforce limits on streets with artificially low speed limits, which are considered speed traps. Radar is the primary method used to catch speeders, so officials in some cities have opted not to ticket rather than raise speed limits to enforceable levels.

“There are some streets where police can’t give tickets,” said Jim Brahler, an associate civil engineer in Newport Beach, where police don’t enforce speed limits on some streets. “Residents would rather have less or no enforcement rather than raise the limit.”

Limits do not represent the upper ceiling on speeds in many cities. A Times survey of local police departments found that motorists are usually given a 5-10 mph “cushion” before they are issued tickets. This is done, police say, to limit successful court challenges.

But as part of their effort to crack down on speeders, Santa Ana police have narrowed a cushion that once reached as high as 12 to 15 mph.

“We’re no longer doing that,” said Corp. Eric Mattke. “We’re holding them closer to the limit. If someone is going 30 or 40 mph in a 25 [zone], they’re getting a ticket.”

Times staff writer Ray F. Herndon contributed to this report.