Yucca Valley, California Speed Traps

Sunnyslope is the east/west alternative to traffic light laden Route 62 from Pioneertown Road to Rte 247 Old Womans Spring Road. It is patrolled by a new SUV ticket dispenser from Yucca Valley. When he’s behind you you will not know it’s a police vehicle. Hidden lights behind grill will flash on to surprise you!

Do not exceed the posted limits on Sunnyslope. They change. Watch for signs and obey them literally and exactly. Be the little old lady from Pasadena everywhere in Yucca Valley!

Come to complete halt at all stop signs in YV. Slowing down to microseconds from a complete halt got me a $227 ticket! This was at Sunnyslope going east at Sage Avenue. This is a quiet back lane, where Sage becomes dirt. Doesn’t matter because Yucca Valley needs the money. If ignored this ticket instantly becomes $616. Yow, that smarts!

Obey the 40 mph speed limit here exactly. I suggest using cruise control set at 40mph even there in town between traffic lights to prevent accidental over speeding. Let the others rush ahead at 50+mph to screech to a halt at all those new stop lights. There is a full time motorcycle officer with a laser or radar gun whose job it is to nail you. It’s pricy and there’s no defense.

Not pulling over fast enough for oncoming emergency vehicles is ticketed. Pulling over is not enough, it must be instant, or in any case, fast enough for the officer.

If you are from out of town you will not be able to plead not guilty (which seems to have to be done in person, but maybe not if you call the court) and then return for Friday afternoon traffic court weeks ahead to hope that the officer doesn’t show so you get a dismissal. If he does show you will pay, period.

Answer: Don’t speed at all, even 5 mph over the limit. YV is very aggressive and tickets even for what seems to be minor mistakes. Be very sure to come to a complete, prolonged halt at stop signs. This is an easy nip for the traffic officers and $227 out of your pocket. Multiply by almost 3 times if you fail to pay or plead not guilty in time and then show up on the trial date. They got you by the short ones, so fork it over!

Motorcycle officer routenely parks at at this intersection to catch northbound cars going down hill. Speed limit is 25 mph–it’s easy to excceed this going down hill.

The speed limit is only 25 MPH here. It’s a problem going north (downhill) from Onaga to Highway 62, and also when you leave Highway 62 or Pioneertown Road and go south up to Onaga. Officers wait on the nearby crosstreets observing – especially at night to catch folks coming down the hill after spending the evening at Pappy & Harriet’s.

CHP can be stealthy here from Apple Valley to Yucca Valley (Becomes 18 at Lucern where 247 turns North to Barstow). They have forward and reverse speed detection. They sit on side roads that are hidden and can clock you before you can react. It is a open hwy where you can see for miles and you can get impatient and put on the gas, but best to keep it in cruise control at 65. It use to have some 55 MPH sections. As a retired Paramedic I understand the concern because this hwy is very similar to the Pearblossum Hwy (138) which was once called one of California’s bloodiest Highways. I believe it hasn’t had the notoriety is because the count is much less. Still an accident out there is problematic because response time will be curtailed.