New City Program: Taking This Pledge Means Swearing Off Speeding

The idea that law-abiding citizens can discourage scofflaws, at least for obeying speed limits, was embraced last night by the City Council.

The council adopted a "Pace Car" program that urges citizens to sign a pledge promising to observe the speed limit. Those who sign receive a "Pace Car" sticker to put on their vehicles.

The program is one component in a revised traffic-management plan that the City Council passed unanimously.

"All it comes down to," said El Cerrtio police Lt. Steve Bonini, "is the residents agree to drive the speed limit of the neighborhood."

The idea is that if enough drivers follow the pledge and obey the speed limit, potential speeders will be less likely to break the law, he said. Those who sign the pledge will also receive a bumper sticker to place on their vehicles.

The start date for the program hasn't been decided but is likely to be around Jan. 1, Bonini said.

The exact design of El Cerrito's sticker hasn't been determined, Bonini said. Some other cities have adopted a "Pace Car" program and use a brightly colored triangle with "Pace Car" in large letters that can be placed on the bumper or window. (The attached image shows the Pace Car sticker used in Arcadia, a city 20 miles east of Los Angeles.)

Speeding ranks high among residents' traffic concerns, Bonini said. "With the exception of parking, it probably ranks as the number one traffic complaint we get."

San Carlos had a Pace Car program about a decade ago, but it was not widely embraced and was abandoned.

"I think the idea is good," said San Carlos police Lt. Mark Robbins, but he added that such programs require public education and official support, elements that have been in short supply in San Carlos.

San Carlos has suffered from a shortage of funding and resources, and it made headlines in June when its City Council agreed to dissolve the department and outsource law enforcement duties to the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department, a transition expected to happen in the near future.

"Just like with any program, you need people that are constantly working on it," Robbins said.

Although El Cerrito police have been strained by vacant positions resulting from a hiring freeze, the department was been spared severe cuts under the current city budget, which is premised on voters passing a half-cent sales tax boost in November. If the tax increase fails, city officials say, police services will have to be cut.

The El Cerrito police department is an acknowledged leader in traffic safety. For the past two years, it has won first place in the California Law Enforcement Challenge competition for departments with 26-50 officers, the largest division in the annual traffic-safety competition.