CA May Bring Back Speed Cameras, Starting In These 6 Cities

SACRAMENTO, CA — A new bill that would reverse the Golden State's ban on speed cameras is awaiting state senate approval this month. If it passes, speed cameras could be installed across a wide swath of the Bay Area and Southern California as early as January.

If approved, Assembly Bill 645, would allow cities to install cameras in school zones and on city streets where speeding has been a problem. Communities slated for the pilot program include Los Angeles, Long Beach, Glendale, San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco. The pilot program is designed to last until 2032. The federal Infrastructure Bill authorizes funding for the speed cameras.

The bill's proponents say it's necessary to counter the deadly plague of street racing.

"In 2021, more than 4,200 Californians lost their life to a car. Over 1,000 of these individuals were pedestrians. For too long we've called these deaths accidents but we know that the majority of these deaths and injuries can be prevented," said California Assemblymember Laura Friedman, the bill's sponsor.

“According to the National Transportation Safety Board, speeding is a factor in 31% of all traffic fatalities,” Friedman added. “So, if we want to stop traffic fatalities and injuries, we’ve got to slow people down."

Under the proposed bill, cameras would snap a picture of license plates on vehicles traveling at least 11 miles per hour over the speed limit. The first infraction would be a warning. After that, citations starting at $50 would automatically be issued to the vehicle's registered owner. That, say the bill's critics, is a problem because innocent car owners could be ticketed when someone else drives their vehicle. It's one of the reasons California banned speed cameras in the first place.

In addition to wrongfully issued citations, concerns about inequalities in photo enforcement prompted many cities to remove traffic cameras altogether. In Arizona, a state that pioneered speed cameras, a bill is working its way through the legislature to remove speed cameras amid concerns about the intrusiveness and expense of photo enforcement systems.

But the speeding tickets wouldn't count as a point on the driver's license, so it wouldn't affect insurance rates the way a traditional ticket would, according to Friedman. Drivers would also have the option of performing community service in lieu of paying the fine.

The money garnered from the citations would be spent on traffic calming measures, and cameras would be removed if they prove to be ineffective at reducing traffic speed, according to a series of metrics identified in the bill.

"Speed safety systems have been long identified as an effective and immediate measure to slow excessive speeding," San Jose city officials said in a written statement. "According to the Federal Highway Administration, speed cameras can reduce crashes on urban streets by 54 percent. For example, in New York City, intersections with speed cameras reduced speeding by an average of 73 percent, as of December 2021. Plus, speeding in school zones were reduced up to 63 percent."