Speed Cameras Are Shifting Driving Habits In A Bay Area City

OAKLAND, CA — A speed safety camera pilot program launched in Oakland earlier this year is changing driving habits in the city, city officials said in a newly released report.

Oakland installed 35 cameras across 18 intersections in the city in January. The cameras were placed in roadways on the High-Injury Network (HIN) — the 6% of Oakland’s streets that account for 60% of severe and fatal collisions in Oakland, according to the city officials.

Since then, the cameras have issued 526,324 violations: 193,508 citations and 332,816 warnings.

Most of those warnings, according to the report, came during the 60-day warning period when the cameras were first implemented.

"In these first six months, we’re seeing that this is a high return-on-investment for safety on our streets," Transportation Department Director Josh Rowan told the San Francisco Chronicle.

What The Data Shows

In the first month citations were issued, cameras were averaging 3,800 violations a day, according to the report.

Ticketed drivers, on average, were traveling 14 mph over the speed limit, according to the report.

But since the cameras were implemented, motorists going at least 11 mph over the speed limit drastically fell by 70% at more than a dozen locations, according to the report.

From June 15, to July 15, the last month covered by the report, camera violations dropped to about 2,800 each day, according to the report.

The speed camera location with the largest decline in speeding was 7th St. between Adeline and Linden Streets, according to the report.

A 2024 evaluation of that street revealed that 14% of vehicles passing the camera were traveling 11 MPH or more over the speed limit, according to the report.

That figure dropped to 1% following the implementation of the cameras, according to the report.

The number of speeding cars also dropped from 1,760 in 2024 to 158 in 2026, according to the report.

The majority of the citations, about 85%, were mailed to residents across the Bay Area's nine counties, according to the report.

But most, 58%, were non-Oakland residents. Only 42% were mailed to registered owners with an address in Oakland, according to the report.

Five Years

Assembly Bill 645 was passed in 2023, paving the way for the pilot program. It allowed six cities across California, including Oakland, to operate the cameras for five-years.

Drivers going 11 to 15 mph over the speed limit are fined $50, 16 to 25 mph are fined $100, more than 26 mph is a $200 fine and anyone traveling 100 mph or more can be fined up to $500, according to city officials.

Fine reductions are offered for people who may not be able to afford to pay the ticket.

The law authorizes only the use of photos to read license plates, and no facial recognition software, and footage will be shared only with the California Department of Transportation. Footage will be retained for 5 days if no violation is issued, and 60 days if a violation is issued.

The cameras have proven effective elsewhere, according to studies. Traffic crashes dropped by 30% thanks to a similar program in New York City. A study of cameras placed in Montgomery County, Maryland, found that the likelihood of drivers exceeding the speed limit by over 10 mph dropped 59%, while crashes resulting in fatal or serious injuries dropped 19 percent.

An average of two people are killed or seriously injured in traffic wrecks in Oakland each week, according to city data.

Reducing vehicle speeds can improve a pedestrian's chance of surviving a crash, according to the report.

A person hit by a car traveling 20 mph has a 9 in 10 chance of surviving and those chances decrease exponentially at 30 and 40 mph.