LA Approves 125 Speed Cameras Across the City

Los Angeles City Council approved the LA Department of Transportation’s speed camera pilot program Tuesday, setting the stage for 125 cameras to go up across the city in the coming months as part of a broader California street safety push.

City workers are scheduled to begin installation and testing between April and July. After that, residents get a 60-day warning period, running July through September, before enforcement kicks in. First-time violators will receive warnings rather than citations throughout the duration of the pilot.

The program traces back to AB 645, which Gavin Newsom signed in October 2023. The bill was authored by Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, a Democrat who represented Burbank before moving to Congress. The law took effect January 1, 2024, and authorized Los Angeles, Long Beach, Glendale, San Jose, Oakland, and San Francisco to run speed safety camera systems through January 1, 2032, unless the Legislature extends it. A final evaluation report is due by March 1 of that final year.

Each of the city’s 15 council districts will receive eight cameras. Districts 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10 will each receive one additional unit.

The push for the program comes with hard numbers behind it. LAPD data showed 290 people died in traffic incidents in Los Angeles last year. Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky pointed to those deaths as the reason the city needs more tools than traffic enforcement officers alone can provide.

“Speeding, as we know, is one of the most serious threats on our streets,” Yaroslavsky said. “Cars are the leading causes of death for children in Los Angeles and the rest of the country. This program gives us a tool to prevent those deaths and protect people in every neighborhood.”

For Burbank residents, the camera rollout is worth watching even though the city sits outside LA’s jurisdiction. Burbank operates its own traffic enforcement and has its own ongoing conversations about pedestrian safety, particularly along corridors like San Fernando Boulevard, Glenoaks, and Olive Avenue where foot traffic and vehicle speeds regularly mix. The AB 645 authorization did not include Burbank, so any similar program here would require separate local action.

What the LA program does affect, directly, is the daily commute. Thousands of Burbank residents drive into Los Angeles for work at studios, production houses, and media companies throughout the region. Many use surface streets through the Cahuenga Pass or Barham Boulevard, routes that could fall within camera zones depending on final placement decisions by LADOT.

The pilot structure is designed to build public acceptance before full enforcement begins. The 60-day information campaign between July and September gives drivers a window to adjust behavior before citations carry any financial weight. That approach mirrors how red-light camera programs were rolled out in earlier eras, though speed cameras operate on different technology and, proponents argue, create more consistent enforcement than officer-based patrols.

Critics of automated enforcement programs have raised concerns in other cities about disproportionate ticketing in lower-income neighborhoods and the accuracy of camera systems. LA officials have not yet detailed the specific streets and intersections selected for camera placement, information that will likely shape the public response once it becomes available.

The pilot runs nearly six years, giving the city a substantial window to collect data on whether camera presence reduces speeding and, by extension, collisions and fatalities. The required final evaluation report means the state will have a formal record to consider before deciding whether to make the program permanent or expand it to additional cities.

For now, Los Angeles is moving into installation mode. By summer, drivers on city streets will start seeing the hardware. By fall, they will know whether the cameras are watching.