The suddenly wide-open lanes on Southern California’s roadways are an unexpected gift to those venturing out for essentials in the midst of the pandemic, a headache for officers tasked with curbing speeders and a challenge to city engineers who oversee the crucial flow of traffic on local streets.

As the number of overall drivers dropped, the average speed the remaining vehicles are traveling on some local surface streets has increased, along with the number of motorists caught hitting 100 mph-plus speeds on freeways, statistics show.

Meanwhile, with daily commuters no longer clogging local streets, engineers are adjusting traffic lights to address new patterns.

“There is no traffic and people see the freeway is wide open,” said Tino Olivera, an officer in the CHP’s Santa Ana office. “We are talking about speeds of 90 plus.”

Drivers speed up

Compared to the previous March, The number of speeding tickets handed to drivers going 100 mph-plus on freeways statewide jumped by nearly 42% in March compared to March 2019. according to the CHP. At the same time, the overall number of speeding citations fell by nearly 18%, the CHP said.

The speeding trend doesn’t just apply to freeways. A preliminary comparison of motorist behavior during the last two weeks of March in 2019 and 2020 showed that drivers along surface streets in Los Angeles have been traveling 12% faster on weekdays and 6% faster on weekends, said Colin Sweeney, Director of Public Information for the city’s Department of Transportation.

“People are spending more time in their neighborhoods during the day, and when they are going out they may be doing more walking or cycling,” Sweeney said.

A report from the University of California Davis published on April 1 also found higher average speeds on parts of several local freeways, including the 405 Freeway near the Getty Center and in Costa Mesa, parts of the 5 Freeway in Northern Los Angeles County and the 10 Freeway near Fontana.

The jump in speeds has been most noticeable between 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Chris Baldonado said. Motorists who would have been stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic during rush hour have instead been zooming practically unimpeded along their commutes, occasionally well above the speed limit.

When stopped by police, some speeders contend that they weren’t even aware of how much faster they were driving without other cars to slow them down, said Gina Jojola, an officer with the CHP’s East Los Angeles Area Office.

“The general response is ‘I wasn’t aware, I was just following the flow of traffic, I didn’t know I was speeding,’” Jojola said. “It’s the same as driving at night – the inclination, the opportunity to speed is there. But we are out there and we are looking for speeders.”

Some drivers said the increase in speed has been noticeable.

“I’ll be doing 70 in the #3 lane and there will be cars going 80 in the #1 lane, often weaving around slower cars,” wrote Ron Gee, 60, of Santa Monica, in a Twitter reply on Tuesday, April 7. “I’ve been commuting from Santa Monica to Long Beach to bring food to my mom once a week. Freeways have been clear, but there are drivers who take advantage of the light traffic by racing along.”

“I drive the 10, 605, and 105 and it’s an easy drive right now even in the rain but definitely see people doing more speeding and weaving in and out of lanes,” wrote another motorist, Twitter user @derektiffin.

Traffic light changes

On city streets across the region, the temporary end of the daily commute has led to changes in the precise synchronization of traffic lights that helps facilitate traffic flow.

Numerous cities – including Los Angeles, Irvine, Corona and Riverside – have confirmed that they are adjusting their traffic signals amidst the stay-at-home period. Other cities, such as Anaheim, are using real-time efforts to deal with the new traffic patterns at major intersections.

During daytime commuter hours, the cities traditionally synchronize green lights so that drivers on busier roadways can get through multiple intersections without stopping.

While that system leaves longer waits for drivers using the lights on the comparatively smaller side streets, it helps smooth the bulk of traffic on local roadways.

Now, with those normally-busy roadways devoid of commuters, leaving the traffic synchronization system as-is would have resulted in frustrated drivers on the smaller streets forced to wait for long lights while no cars passed by.

Instead, many cities are using “nighttime settings” for traffic signals, usually reserved for overnight hours when traffic is far lighter.

Rosie Ureno, a city traffic engineer in Corona, described the traffic light changes as moving to an on-demand timing plan with shorter cycles that work on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“Since there are no cars around we are letting the signals run free,” Ureno said.

Drop in crashes

The drop in traffic congestion has coincided with a 55% drop in collisions on California Highways, according to UC Davis researchers. Only 500 crashes were reported on the freeways in the 10 days following the stay-at-home order, less than half the 1,116 crashes recorded the 10 days leading up to that.

In Orange County, deputies responded to only 17 collisions between March 30 and April 5, Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Carrie Braun said. They had been dispatched to 35 and 33 during that same period in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

“The caveat to this is that we are not responding to crashes the way we typically had in the past,” Braun said.

In an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19, deputies aren’t being dispatched to collisions unless those involve injury, disabled vehicles or roadway obstructions, she said.

Local CHP officers, meanwhile, say they have not seen an increase in racing on newly-empty freeways.

Law enforcement officials urge all drivers to keep their speedometers in mind.

“I get it, gas tanks are lasting longer and nobody is in your way,” Baldonado said. “But you’re already saving time. You can enjoy that nice quiet drive. You don’t have to rush.”