San Francisco announced that it will switch on speed cameras this week at 33 locations distributed throughout the city. This makes it the first city in California to use the life-saving technology under a new statewide pilot program.
“Speed cameras address the #1 cause of severe and fatal crashes in San Francisco,” said Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco, in a statement. “San Francisco’s streets will undoubtedly be safer with this technology, and we’re grateful to City leaders for acting quickly after state legislation was passed to launch speed cameras.”
As previously reported, the legislation that authorized the speed camera pilot, A.B. 645, became law in September 2023 after over a decade of legislative battles. The other six cities included in the pilot, San Jose, Glendale, Oakland, Los Angeles, and Long Beach still aren’t ready (see Streetsblog California coverage for more on that). Oakland is expected to roll out its own speed-camera program in the fall and winter of this year. The statewide pilot will end in 2032.
There are high hopes that the new technology will finally start to crack San Francisco’s grim Vision Zero statistics.
“The collapse of traffic enforcement in San Francisco over the last decade is dangerous. Ten years into Vision Zero, we still haven’t seen a meaningful decline in traffic fatalities and injuries,” said Raphael Mandelman, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. “Although SFPD has taken steps to reverse this trend, there is still much more to be done. At the same time we need to use every tool and technology available to supplement their efforts.”
Despite the long period spent educating drivers about the cameras’ pending activation and studies to assure they are equitably distributed throughout the city, there will still be a required-by-law, no-fee 60-day grace period.
“Grace period!? Warning?! $50?!” wrote Erik Honda, a San Francisco resident in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle about the cameras. “We safe drivers all know that speeding is illegal and dangerous—we don’t need a grace period and a warning.”
More from SFMTA:
In San Francisco, unsafe speed is one of the most common primary collision factors in crashes that result in injuries. Speeding is dangerous for myriad reasons: a driver’s field of vision is narrowed, reducing the likelihood that potential hazards can be seen and avoided, and drivers have less time to react and maneuver out of dangerous situations when travelling at higher speeds. Safely negotiating curves is also compromised.
It takes a vehicle a longer distance to stop for a hazard in the road the faster it is travelling. In the event of a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian or bicyclist, the vehicle’s speed will largely determine the survivability of the crash. A person hit by a car traveling 20 mph has a 9 in 10 chance of surviving while a person hit by a car traveling at 40 mph only has a 2 in 10 chance of surviving.
“No matter how you get around our city, you should be able to do it without fearing for your life. That is why I am proud that San Francisco is now the first city in California to implement automated speed cameras,” said Mayor Lurie at the event Thursday morning to mark the start of the program. “Speeding is the number one cause of traffic injuries and fatalities in this city. It is my job as mayor to protect our residents and visitors, and that is what we are doing today.”
Be sure to check out Jenny Yu‘s commentary in the S.F. Chronicle, for an idea of why cities can’t afford to wait any longer to implement safety features.
