22358.7.
(a) If a local authority, after completing an engineering and traffic survey, finds that the speed limit is still more than is reasonable or safe, the local authority may, by ordinance, determine and declare a prima facie speed limit that has been reduced an additional five miles per hour for either of the following reasons:
(1) The portion of highway has been designated as a safety corridor. A local authority shall not deem more than one-fifth of their streets as safety corridors.
(2) The portion of highway is adjacent to any land or facility that generates high concentrations of bicyclists or
pedestrians, especially those from vulnerable groups such as children, seniors, persons with disabilities, and the unhoused.
(b) (1) As used in this section, “safety corridor” shall be defined by the Department of Transportation in the next revision of the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. In making this determination, the department shall consider highways that have the highest number of serious injuries and fatalities based on collision data that may be derived from, but not limited to, the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System.
(2) The Department of Transportation shall, in the next revision of the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, determine what constitutes land or facilities that generate high concentrations
of bicyclists and pedestrians, as used in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a). In making this determination, the department shall consider density, road use type, and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure present on a section of highway.
(c) A local authority may not lower a speed limit as authorized by this section until June 30, 2024, or until the Judicial Council has developed an online tool for adjudicating infraction violations statewide as specified in Article 7 (commencing with Section 68645) of Chapter 2 of Title 8 of the Government Code, whichever is sooner.
(d) A local authority shall issue only warning citations for violations of exceeding the speed limit by 10
miles per hour or less for the first 30 days that a lower speed limit is in effect as authorized by this section.
(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 690, Sec. 7. (AB 43) Effective January 1, 2022.)