El Cerrito, California Speed Traps

On Arlington Avenue, between Moeser Lane to the south and Barrett Avenue to the North, that stretch of road is heavily monitored by El Cerrito Police using radar. The speed limit is 25MPH, however one must brake constantly down the steep hills in order to avoid exceeding the speed limit. El Cerrito Police with radar often park hidden behind bushes/trees at the corners of side streets or behind other parked cars to avoid detection. Normally, but not always, they are located on the left side of the street if you are driving from South to North (i.e. driving from Moeser towards Barrett). If you exceed the speed limit by any measurable amount while being monitored, you will get nailed.

The whole street is 25mph. I’ve been caught going 35mph. I’ve seen other motorists trapped here. The cop who caught me first "eyeballed" me going too fast, and then used his radar gun. I beat the ticket, though, by showing on a map that the regulatory signs (speed limit signs) do not exist on the west half of the street going westbound, though they may have put one up by now. I also showed that the street is rather wide, which seems to allow faster traffic, and I was pulled over far enough away from the school to be a speeding hazard. The cop did lie, though — he wrote me up for 40mph, but in court admitted the radar gun only said 33mph. Maybe that worked in my favor too. He claimed I was decelerating by the time he lifted his radar gun. Liar. El Cerrito cops have too much time on their hands, and I know the county is very short on money right now.

Officer sits at the top of North Brewster and uses a radar device to cite motorists that are traveling in either direction. There are no posted speed limits going in the Northern direction all the way till the Berkeley border. Posted speed limits in the El Cerrito section of this road, which starts in Berkeley and stretches to Richmond, are practically non-existent. I was cited mid afternoon traveling North after I came on to Arlington via Portrero. I observed 2 motorists cited during rush hour going in the opposite direction at about 7 AM.