The Willow Glen Resident Photo radar returns to streets of Willow Glen By Cecily Barnes Starting in November, speeding drivers on the streets of Willow Glen should make sure to brush their hair and smile for the camera. San Jose's NASCOP, the Neighborhood Automated Speed Compliance Program, is back in action. The city's Ford Arrowstar van, equipped with hidden video cameras, will return to neighborhood streets in Willow Glen and other parts of San Jose. And lead-footed drivers will be photographed and ticketed, without even knowing they've been shot. Say cheese. "Your picture is taken if you are exceeding the speed limit above a certain threshold, typically 10 to 15 miles over," said Lily Lim, an associate civil engineer with the city of San Jose who works with NASCOP. "It gets recorded, brought back to the office and then notices are sent out." Willow Glen streets that will be monitored include Blewett Avenue, Glen Eyrie Avenue, Bird Avenue, Pine Avenue and Minnesota Avenue. The NASCOP pilot program began in 1996 as an experiment to see if the presence of cameras would affect driver behavior. Research shows that slowed traffic was in fact the result. "A reduction in the incidence of speeding during peak hours occurred on 12 of the 20 streets tested," a NASCOP report reads. "Seven of the 12 streets showed reductions of 50 percent or more in the incidence of drivers exceeding the speed limit by more than 10 miles per hour." The results were so positive that when the pilot program ended last January, neighbors asked that the warning signs stay posted. "That way when people were driving into the area, they would think the program was still intact and ongoing," Lim said. Now the van will return on a permanent basis. Kris Cunningham, president of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, believes most residents will be happy that NASCOP is back. She hopes that awareness of its presence will help people slow down without getting ticketed. At last week's candidates forum hosted by the neighborhood association, Cunningham warned audience members to watch out. "I'm of the belief that you tell people it's there so they can control themselves, rather than get tickets," Cunningham said. "Some of the people getting ticketed were local people. Hopefully people will be monitoring themselves." During the pilot program, neighbors reported that traffic on their streets slowed down as a result. Not surprisingly, people ticketed through the program questioned its validity. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, November 4, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.