Among the many who excitedly prepared earlier this month for the Monterey Classic Car Week events — in addition to the manufacturers, the caterers, the fans — were the local police.
And they were kept really busy: After the Monterey Police tripled their coverage during three days from Thursday to Saturday, the department made 211 traffic stops and issued 135 citations. In those same three days from Aug. 17 to 19, officers made 10 arrests and towed eight vehicles.
The fastest speed officers clocked through Monterey’s Lighthouse Tunnel was 94 mph. The posted speed limit there is 35 miles per hour.
During that Friday alone, the cops said, they stopped 86 vehicles and handed out 57 citations. Police arrested two drivers on Friday, three drivers on Thursday, and five on Saturday.
To monitor the quarter-mile-long tunnel near Cannery Row, police usually post officers with radar guns.
“We were prepared,” Monterey police Lt. Jacob Pinkas told the Monterey Herald. “Obviously we saw an increase in traffic, but we also had an increase in officers. I think overall, it went OK. We addressed violations when we saw them. … (The week) was as expected. We’ve been doing this for a number of years now.
“There’s just an increase of people, and while a vast, vast majority of them are driving to dinner and not violating rules or causing any issues, for whatever reason some view Monterey Classic Car Week as a road race, as opposed to going to Laguna Seca,” Pinkas said.
The situation was similar in nearby Carmel, where additional officers were also deployed. Authorities there said that from Aug. 11 to Aug. 21, Carmel Police made 141 traffic stops, wrote 75 traffic violations, made two arrests, cited two DUIs and received 20 calls for service regarding reckless driving.
“We’ve gotten really good feedback from the community as far as us controlling the fun,” said Carmel Police Sgt. Jacob Clifford. “Everyone felt safe and like events maybe were more in hand than they ever had been before.”
