racing on canyon roads
Operation Safe Canyons will put more officers on the roads on random days to catch race participants. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky wants an ordinance drafted that would force racers to give up their cars.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
The California Highway Patrol is heading an effort with several local agencies to reduce the number of amateur car races in the canyons. A press conference took place last week to introduce the program called Operation Safe Canyons.
Capt. Craig Klein, CHP West Valley Area commander, spoke to the media at a view site on Mulholland Highway. The location of the press conference was intentional, with the evidence of autos racing at excessive speeds visible on the road by long tire marks stretching in all directions. Klein said racing on the canyon roads and general speeding has been a concern for many years. Operation Safe Canyons will include an increase in officers on the roads on random days to catch the speeders.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky also spoke at the conference. He discussed his plan to request local authorities draft an ordinance proposal within the next 60 days that would make vehicle forfeiture the penalty for participating in a speeding contest. Yaroslavsky was expected to make that request at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
“They [canyon roads] are dangerous to begin with,” Yaroslavsky said. “They are narrow. They are winding. They are dark at night… To use these roads for speeding, for racing, is adding insult to injury. It’s putting more of a safety burden on the people who use these roads.”
Yaroslavsky said the speed limits should be reduced on several of the canyon roads, with most of them currently at 55 mph. Before that can be done, speed surveys must be conducted, which Yaroslavsky encouraged.
According to the CHP, speed-related collisions in the canyon roads caused the deaths of 16 people from 2002 to 2004. Klein said most of the racing used to be limited to Sundays, but is now known to occur on weekday nights and early morning hours. Those participating in the races are not just teenagers, with people ranging from 25 to 40 years old. Klein said older people are more likely to be able to afford faster and more powerful cars.
At least three Web sites exist that encourage participation in amateur races and give tips on how people can race on local roadways. Klein said the CHP is aware of the Web sites, which he said promote “illegal and unsafe behavior.” But Klein said there is nothing illegal about the sites, so the government cannot shut them down.
The Malibu Times contacted one of those Web sites, www.mulhollandraceway.org. Last week. The newspaper did not receive a response. As of Monday, the site was no longer operating. It is not known what happened.