{"id":397478,"date":"2026-07-14T03:45:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T03:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/397478\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T03:45:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T03:45:20","slug":"san-francisco-wants-to-double-down-on-speed-cameras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/397478\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Wants to Double Down on Speed Cameras"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new resolution seeks to more than double the number of speed cameras monitoring drivers in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

The Board of Supervisors will vote Tuesday on whether to urge the state legislature to allow San Francisco to expand its speed-camera network from 33 locations to 80 or more.<\/p>\n

In March 2025, San Francisco became the first city in the state to adopt a speed-safety camera pilot program. California Assembly Bill 645 authorized six cities \u2014 Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale, Long Beach and San Francisco \u2014 to adopt speed cameras.<\/p>\n

The proposed local resolution would prioritize adding speed cameras along what the city calls its \u201chigh injury network<\/a>,\u201d which identifies where the most severe traffic accidents occur. Such incidents are highly concentrated in some of San Francisco\u2019s lowest-income neighborhoods. For example, the city labels nearly every street in the Tenderloin a high-injury corridor.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch has criticized AB 645 for allowing cities to install more speed cameras in lower-income neighborhoods, so long as they are deemed high-risk areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cost of losing hard-earned assets borne by communities already suffering from economic instability and wealth extraction are incalculable,\u201d Human Rights Watch wrote in a 2023 letter<\/a> urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to veto AB 645.<\/p>\n

\"\"An speed camera, positioned above a traffic light, monitors drivers on Columbus Avenue between Lombard and Greenwich streets in San Francisco. Credit: Lila LaHood \/ San Francisco Public Press<\/p>\n

Supervisor Matt Dorsey introduced the resolution in May to urge the state to expand the speed-camera network following community advocacy efforts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At a Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee meeting last week, representatives from several organizations, including Bay Area Families for Safe Streets and Walk San Francisco, spoke out alongside community members to express support for the proposal.<\/p>\n

Dr. Susan George recounted her first trauma patient: a cyclist who lost the use of his legs after a collision with a car. \u201cWe can not only evaluate the safety of our streets based on the end point of death, but also include all the nonlife-threatening harms as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency in May published a report<\/a> showing that speeding declined 79% at speed-camera locations after the devices were installed.<\/p>\n

Increasing the number of speed-camera locations across San Francisco to 80 or more from 33 would significantly expand the city\u2019s surveillance infrastructure. AB 645 requires that any photographs taken by speed cameras that don\u2019t correspond to a violation are to be deleted after five business days.<\/p>\n

Arman Sookiassian, a recent graduate of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, spent a year researching AB 645 and said he doesn\u2019t think the law\u2019s privacy protections hold up to 4th Amendment scrutiny.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have these little bits of data that get aggregated and analyzed, suddenly police departments know that this person always goes here at 4 p.m., this person always visits this temple or church at this time,\u201d he said. \u201cIt becomes a way to know someone without a warrant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because San Francisco\u2019s speed-camera program was authorized through a statewide bill, it is up to the California State Legislature to allow for the program\u2019s expansion. If supervisors pass the resolution Tuesday, they will then send it to Sacramento to advocate for the program.<\/p>\n

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