Coronavirus: Open Freeways Leading To Faster Speeds, More Speeding Tickets
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Millions of people across Southern California and beyond are staying close to home and off the freeways — and drivers are taking advantage and racking up speeding tickets.
Speeds are up as much as 30 percent on some LA streets since the stay at home orders took effect in mid-March, according to an analysis by the LA City Department of Transportation.
Drivers are going about 12 percent faster on weekdays, and 6 percent faster on the weekends. On the famously gridlocked 405 Freeway near the Getty Center, average speeds were found to be up by nearly 7 mph since the stay-at-home orders. Average speeds on the Interstate 5 near the 14 Freeway interchange were also up by more than 9 mph.
UC Davis conducted a study on traffic across the state and found with fewer people on the roads, there has been a 50 percent decrease in traffic accidents on California highways.
However, between March 19 and March 29, CHP officers wrote 543 tickets to drivers going over 100 mph, compared with 418 for the same period last year.
