Driving Safely in Our Community—It’s the Neighborly Thing To Do!
From time to time, we all can use reminders to slow down while driving. Driving safely through our community streets in University Hills not only benefits you, it helps keep our neighbors and colleagues safe as well.  It is especially important to be aware of your speed when driving on streets with homes that front onto them. We all are pressed for time…it is easy to forget when we are in a hurry.

Please consider using extra caution and driving slower than 25 MPH when on streets with homes and apartment frontages. Children and animals, even well-behaved ones, can at times be unpredictable and dart out. We all have a role to play to keep them safe. 

Here are a few things you can do to participate in making University Hills a safer place for all of us:

  • Slow down, especially where homes and apartments front to the street.
  • Consider using the collector streets. It is actually faster to travel to certain places in University Hills by using collector streets. An example is getting to the Community Center from Bonita Canyon Drive. It is faster to take Anteater to California than to drive Coltrane, Pauling or Gabrielino. 
  • Be extra careful in the morning and afternoon as kids walk to and from bus stops.
  • As the days begin to lengthen in the spring, remember to watch for children playing outside. The proverbial ball bouncing into the street will likely be followed by a child trying to retrieve it. It's just good karma to drive slower when you know kids will be outside.
  • Speeding does not save as much time as humans often perceive. For a half-mile distance, increasing your speed from 15 MPH to 25 MPH only saves you 48 seconds. By giving up 48 seconds of your time, you can make our community safe and perhaps even avoid an accident.
  • Come to a full stop at all stop signs.
  • Double check for pedestrians and cyclists at all intersections, regardless of whether there is a stop sign, crosswalk or not.
  • A car has a much greater mass than a human. In motion, the car’s energy will be transferred to the human primarily.
  • Human reaction time is not that quick. The faster you are travelling, the longer distance the car will travel until your braking or swerving take effect.
Here's what ICHA is doing:

  • Working with the residents in Area 11 to identify issues of concern from their perspective living on an entry street.
  • Hiring a traffic consultant to collect vehicle data including number of vehicles, time of day, and speed. This data will be used to identify any additional physical improvements that might be used to remind drivers to slow down in these areas.
  • Installing 25 MPH speed limit signs throughout our newest neighborhoods in Area 11. Though state law makes 25 MPH the default residential area speed limit unless otherwise posted, these signs might be a helpful reminder to all who travel these streets.
  • Remember, 25 MPH is not the mandate, it's the maximum. Consider driving more slowly where there are homes or apartments fronting the street.
  • Coordinating with UCI Police Department to focus on educating drivers and patrolling key locations where the vehicle code is not being followed (speed, stop signs, crosswalks, school bus stops, etc.)
Irvine Campus Housing Authority
(949) 824-2424
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