Prima Facie Speed Limit Near Schools - 15 mph

The previous law established a 25 miles per hour (mph) prima facie limit when approaching or passing a school building or the grounds thereof, contiguous to a highway and posted with a standard "SCHOOL" warning sign, while children are going to or leaving the school either during school hours or during the noon recess period.

A new bill, which was approved by Governor Schwarzenegger on October 10, 2007, increases motor vehicle speed restrictions on roadways near schools. Specifically, this bill:

• Increases, from 500 feet to 1,000 feet, the distance from a school within which the speed limit is 25 mph.
• Reduces, from 25 mph to 15 mph, the speed limit for motor vehicles operated within 500 feet of, and on a roadway adjacent to, a school.
• Clarifies that these speed limits apply to vehicles in all lanes of the adjacent roadway and when children are "present" instead of while they are "going to or leaving the school either during school hours or during the noon recess."

Sources: http://www.totalcapitol.com/?bill_id=5931
http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0301-0350/ab_321_cfa_20070417_145933_asm_comm.html