Seaside PD clamps down on speeding drivers on Hilby and other residential streets.

Seaside police are cracking down on speeding drivers, particularly on residential streets, in response to concerns from residents and in advance of a city-commissioned traffic calming plan currently in the works for Hilby Avenue.

Police in Seaside have ramped up enforcement of moving violations considerably, doling out 1,635 traffic citations in 2022 – up by 62 percent from the 1,012 citations handed out in 2021 and more than double the 812 citations issued during the height of the pandemic in 2020. While it’s predictable that traffic tickets would escalate as lockdown measures receded and more drivers hit the road, last year’s number was also higher than the number of citations issued pre-pandemic in 2019 (1,233 citations) and 2018 (1,382 citations).

Hilby Avenue has been a particular area of emphasis for police amid concerns from residents who say that speeding and collisions have gotten out of hand on the residential street, which connects Fremont Boulevard and General Jim Moore Boulevard. On social media, the Seaside Police Department has talked up both its traffic enforcement efforts on Hilby as well as enhanced signage and speed trailers encouraging motorists to slow down.

Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges says reckless driving on Hilby is a particular worry given the number of schools, churches and community centers on the street. There were 17 traffic collisions recorded on Hilby in 2022 – the highest number among Seaside’s residential streets – with two of those accidents being “rollovers” that saw vehicles flipped off their wheels. By contrast, the higher-trafficked thoroughfare of Fremont Boulevard saw 72 collisions last year.

“For a residential street, 17 [collisions] is high, and a lot of these accidents are based upon speed,” Borges says. While officers are instructed to “be reasonable” in enforcing moving violations, he adds that “without enforcement, a stop sign is just a suggestion.” While Hilby has drawn much of the attention, Borges says Seaside police are also keeping a close eye on other residential streets, including La Salle and Kimball avenues.

But he acknowledges that, long term, traffic tickets are no substitute for reconfiguring the streets to make them harder to speed along. To that end, the city of Seaside commissioned Parisi Transportation Consulting in January to devise a traffic calming plan. But with that work expected to take about 10 months, Borges says it’s up to police to enforce the rules in the meantime – rather than “sit back and wait for more crashes and violations to occur.”