The California Highway Patrol issued nearly 200 citations, mostly for speeding, as officers saturated the Bay Bridge’s S-curve over the weekend, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said today.
CHP Officer Herman Quon said between 11:30 p.m. Friday and 4 a.m. today, 169 drivers were cited for speeding, and nearly 30 for other violations, on the S-curve. Officers also verbally warned numerous motorists as part of an effort to educate the public on the dangers of speeding on the bridge.
The CHP began regularly saturating the bridge with officers during off-peak hours Thursday night and will continue indefinitely, Quon said.
There have been at least 43 accidents on the S-curve since that temporary section of the roadway was installed over the Labor Day weekend, including a fatal crash Nov. 9 in which a big-rig toppled over the side of the bridge.
“We looked at the 43 collisions we’ve had and they all pointed to one common denominator,” Quon said referring to speed.
Quon said officers are able to use lanes closed by the California Department of Transportation to safely pull over motorists.
He said the enforcement is part of a larger effort to educate the public on the dangers of speeding on the bridge.
Caltrans has also installed additional safety measures near the S-curve, including extra speed limit signs, reflective striping along the barriers on the roadway’s edge and raised bumps between lanes.
The weekend enforcement marked a big increase in the number of citations issued on the S-curve, Quon said. There had been approximately 700 citations issued on the S-curve in the two months between Labor Day weekend and when the increased enforcement began last week, he said.
The speed limit on most of the bridge is 50 mph, but the limit drops to 40 mph on the S-curve, with a maximum 35 mph recommended on the sharpest curves.
