Even though drivers still speed on city streets, cameras installed to reduce dangerous driving in Oakland have worked, according to a city report released Thursday.

The number of motorists going at least 11 mph over the speed limit fell by 70% at 18 locations since automated speed enforcement cameras went up, Transportation Department Director Josh Rowan said in an interview.

“In these first six months, we’re seeing that this is a high return-on-investment for safety on our streets,” Rowan said.

Oakland installed 35 cameras at 18 intersections in January, focusing on corridors with higher rates of severe and fatal collisions. Since a 60-day warning period for the cameras ended on March 14, Oakland has issued 193,508 citations and 121,473 warnings to drivers – which they receive for their first violation, so long as they are not speeding more than 15 mph over the limit.

Oakland’s broad, multilane streets can make it easy for drivers to pick up speed – sometimes with deadly consequences. Each week, an average of two people are killed or seriously injured in traffic wrecks, according to city data. Just 8% of Oakland streets account for about 60% of severe and fatal crashes.

Reducing vehicle speeds can dramatically improve a pedestrian’s chance of surviving a collision. A still widely cited 2011 study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety estimated that the risk of death for a pedestrian struck by a car going 30 mph is about 25%. When the car is moving at 40 mph, the risk rises to a flip of a coin, or 50%. 

Installing speed bumps, traffic cones or other ways to slow drivers down can be expensive and take time. Rowan said that the cameras can serve as a more immediate way to change driver behavior while the city plans for longer-term street improvements.

Until 2023, state law barred cities from installing their own automated speed cameras. But that year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed off on AB 645, which authorized Oakland and five other cities to conduct five-year pilots of the automated enforcement systems. San Francisco installed 33 cameras and began issuing tickets in August.

Rowan didn’t say how much revenue the department has collected from the new cameras – but he stressed that the cameras are not intended to generate fines, but to educate drivers.

Fines begin at $50 for drivers traveling 11 to 15 mph over the speed limit. With nearly 200,000 tickets issued, the city could stand to collect some $10 million from tickets issued in just the first six months. Per state law, revenue generated by the speed cameras is to be used to operate the program or fund street safety improvements.

But it’s unclear so far if anyone is paying their tickets – the fines are civil penalties, and there are no real consequences. Unlike unpaid parking tickets, the Department of Motor Vehicles cannot withhold vehicle registration if the Oakland speeding tickets aren’t paid. 

To measure the impact of the cameras, the city logged the number of speeding cars at the 18 planned camera locations over a 72-hour period in 2024, then compared them to a 72-hour period in 2026 several months after they went up.

The most significant reduction occurred on 7th Street between Adeline and Linden streets in West Oakland, a wide roadway with three westbound lanes and two eastbound lanes, with parking on both sides and a 30-mph speed limit. Between 2024 and 2026, the number of drivers speeding at least 11 mph over the limit who were recorded over a 72-hour period decreased from 1,760 to 158 – a 91% decrease.

A stretch of Hegenberger Road just above the Oakland Coliseum, also saw a major drop in speeding drivers. In 2024, 43% of all drivers passing by Spencer Street were traveling at least 11 miles per hour over the road’s 40 mile per hour limit. But with the cameras, that share fell to just 8%.

Drivers who received violations were speeding at an average of 14 mph above the posted limit. In the first month that Oakland issued citations, the cameras recorded an average of 3,800 violations per day. In the most recent month tracked, from June 15 to July 15, the cameras have recorded 2,800 violations per day, a decrease of 26%. 

About 58% of citations were issued to drivers living outside of Oakland. Over half of drivers cited received a single citation. But, incredibly, there were 98 drivers who had more than 50 citations over the six-month period.

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This article originally published at Oakland installed new automated speed cameras. Drivers’ behavior changed dramatically.