Canyons make attractive venue for racing, but residents upset

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers FAST TIMES—On a recent Sunday, a Ford Mustang and a Ferrari race uphill toward the top of Stunt Road near Calabasas. Residents have long complained about the noise and danger from the canyon racing. Officials finally have begun to take notice and say they will crack down on the speeding. The canyon racers are driving some people crazy.

The residents who live on Stunt Road and Piuma Road near Calabasas say the speeding motorists zoom by at all hours of the night. They say they hate noise of the loud vehicles and have safety concerns as well.

The residents, including many who are part of the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation, are fed up with the situation and want something done.

Something is being done.

“The county deployed a project called Operation Safe Canyons, which brought to bear additional resources in the area for law enforcement (to crack down on) racing and noise,” said Steve Hess, a federation spokesperson.

“Members of the federation live all along Stunt, Mulholland and lots of the canyons in the area where the racing is a problem— myself included,” Hess said.

Mulholland Highway and the adjacent canyon roads includes many stretches where automobile and motorcycle racing has been popular for years.

One website, www. mulhollandraceway.org, encourages the racing.

The racing website offers a complete guide to canyon driving, vehicle preparation, car culturerelated politics and more.

According to Hess and other residents, Operation Safe Canyons has worked to an extent, but troubles still exist.

“The problem was greatly improved in all the areas except Stunt and Piuma,” Hess said. “The reason that Stunt and Piuma were having trouble is because the speed limits weren’t properly posted and so the highway patrol couldn’t take enforcement action.”

The county has since been posting speed limits, according to Susan Nissman, field deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, whose office was a driving force behind Operation Safe Canyons.

“If there are no speed limit signs, then it’s harder to enforce (the speed limit),” Nissman said. “So we sent out our traffic and lighting department and they did their traffic studies and their feasibility studies. . . to put speed restrictions in those areas. That then has given the CHP the tools they need to enforce the breaking of that speed limit.”

Nissman said the county has been posting speed limits in the area for the past year and a half.

People should understand, however, that deputies can’t patrol the canyons at all times, Nissman said. Street racers have taken advantage of the CHP’s limited resources, she said.

Stunt Road resident Jean Schmit said the racers somehow seem to know when law enforcement is coming.

“They’ve got their Blackberries, they’ve got their cell phones—they’ve got everything they need to be able to wire ahead and escape before the CHP or the enforcement gets there,” Nissman said. “It’s quite a challenge.”

Schmit said the racers return once the authorities leave the area.

“I could tell you about a late night accident in front of our house,” Schmit said. “The drivers begged us not to call the police.” The racers handle collisions without the help of the authorities, she said. Schmit added, “The police are not involved and so, in the traffic reports, the problem doesn’t seem as frequent as we know it is.”

Still, the racers should be warned.

About two years ago the city of Los Angeles passed a vehicle forfeiture ordinance where law enforcers could seize a street racer’s vehicle if they were caught racing. The law served to push racing outside L.A. city limits, Nissman said. But, last year, L.A. County passed a similar ordinance to help reduce the dangerous driving.

Lost Hills Sheriff’s Detective John Caffrey said the Sheriff’s Department and Highway Patrol are finding success by teaming up.

“There is an ongoing sharing of information,” Caffrey said. “Our dispatch will simply call and forward pertinent information to CHP and vice versa.”

The Malibu Sheriff’s Department has a similar relationship with the CHP, Nissman said.