New Report: So Cal Cities Lag Behind Rest of State in Implementing Speed Safety Cameras
This AB 645 Implementation Report Card shows how pilot cities are progressing toward life-saving speed safety systems—and where urgent action is still needed.
This data shows the toll of speeding across AB 645 pilot cities since the law was signed—and why timely, accountable implementation matters.
Streets Are For Everyone Logo (also known as SAFE). SAFE is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that aims to improve the quality of life for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers alike by reducing traffic fatalities to zero. Visit StreetsAreForEveryone.org f
AB 645 allows 6 cities to use speed safety cameras to reduce speeding on dangerous roads, but cities have been slow to implement this life-saving technology.
Signed by the Governor of California on 13 October 2023, Assembly Bill 645 authorized a five-year pilot program to deploy automated speed safety cameras on high-injury streets, in school zones, and along street-racing corridors in six designated pilot cities: San Francisco, Oakland, San José, Glendale, Los Angeles, and Long Beach. Malibu was later added to the program through Senate Bill 1297. The program is designed to save lives by slowing speeding drivers — the leading cause of traffic deaths in California.
SAFE’s new report evaluates each city’s progress toward full implementation and assigns grades based on the completion of critical steps.
Key Findings Include:
-- San Francisco leads the state with a 100% complete program. All 33 cameras are fully operational, and citations are being issued after a 60-day warning period. Early SFMTA data show a 72% reduction in speeding at monitored locations, demonstrating significant safety gains.
-- Oakland and San Jose are making solid progress, having completed the vendor contract and nearing the implementation of their cameras.
-- Since AB 645 was adopted into law, SoCal cities have seen 660 individuals seriously injured or killed by speeding drivers. Glendale and Long Beach have authorized vendor contracts to move forward with program implementation. Los Angeles, however, continues to lag significantly behind other cities in implementation due to delays in policy adoption, vendor procurement, and identification of speed system locations.
-- Malibu, added later to the program, is advancing toward vendor selection after adopting its use policy earlier this year.
The discrepancies in implementation timelines mean that residents in cities with slower progress remain exposed to unnecessary risk from speeding drivers, while cities like San Francisco are already seeing measurable safety improvements. Every month of delay represents more lives lost and injuries that could have been prevented.
SAFE calls on local city leaders to take the impact of traffic violence seriously, especially as speeding remains one of the leading causes of traffic fatalities and severe injuries. They must take advantage of the policy available to them and expedite final implementation steps in lagging cities.
About Streets Are For Everyone
Streets Are For Everyone is a Los Angeles–based nonprofit dedicated to reducing traffic fatalities and injuries, supporting victims of traffic violence, and improving the quality of life for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers alike. Founded in 2015, SAFE leads innovative programs in education, enforcement advocacy, victim support, and community engagement to create safer streets for all.
Damian Kevitt
Streets Are For Everyone
+1 844-884-7233
DamianKevitt@StreetsAreForEveryone.org
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