Speedy drivers in San Diego's northern neighborhoods could run into more reminders to slow down. That's because the San Diego Police Department's Northeastern Division unveiled two new speed trailers on Thursday that flash how fast drivers are going as they pass.
The solar-powered trailers will move to different locations throughout San Diego's fifth council district, which includes the Black Mountain Ranch, Carmel Mountain Ranch and Rancho Bernardo neighborhoods. The trailers cannot cite drivers for speeding, but San Diego police will increase enforcement in the areas around the trailers, said City Councilman Mark Kersey, who represents the district.
"These new speed trailers do more than just flash the speed of the driver, they also monitor speed conditions and count cars, and that's going to help us determine if permanent traffic-calming measures are warranted in a given neighborhood," he said.
The division previously had one trailer. The combined cost for the two new additions is $17,500, Kersey said. They were funded from the District Five Community Programs, Projects and Services budget.
Community members can request a trailer be brought to a specific area, as long as it's not on a curved road or in a bike lane, said SDPD Northeastern Captain Dawn Summers. She said requests can be sent to Community Services Officer Shannah Oliveras at soliveras@pd.sandiego.gov.
Summers said speeding is an increasing problem in northern neighborhoods, especially when combined with drivers looking at their cell phones.
"It would be tragic to see a child get hit by a car because (drivers) are speeding or they're distracted by talking on their cell phone or just not paying attention and driving too fast," she said.
Kersey said the trailers fit into his goal of improving roads across the city.
"Speeding is probably one of the two biggest complaints we get at my office, with potholes being the other," Kersey said. He said his office is working on the pothole issue by paving more roads, but "this is a little more of a challenging problem because as much as we'd like to put officers everywhere and slow people down, we just can't do that."
He said technology like the trailers helps with that problem.
Kersey has previously touted a proposed infrastructure ballot measure that would go before voters in 2016. No details of that ballot measure have been announced.
"We are in the process of putting together our infrastructure financing package for next year, so we'll probably have more details on that in the fall," Kersey said on Thursday.
