Los Angeles drivers will have a harder time getting away with speeding come Halloween, with 125 cameras scheduled to be installed throughout the city to catch those driving over the speed limit.
The cameras were supposed to be installed between April and July, but a Los Angeles Department of Transportation spokesperson said that the agency needed time to establish contracts for the construction of the cameras, which took all summer to secure.
“The goal is to do it right rather than do it fast and run into problems later down the line,” said Colin Sweeney, spokesperson for LADOT.
LADOT officials, along with Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez and Rep. Laura Friedman, announced Thursday that the completion of the installation of L.A.’s Automated Speed Safety System will be no later than Oct. 26.
Once all 125 cameras go live, motorists will get a 60-day grace period when only warnings will be issued to drivers, Sweeney said.
For the first 60 days, the warnings will be issued to drivers photographed going 11 mph or more over the posted speed limit. After the grace period — sometime in late December — violators will be issued fines.
The cameras will take a photo of the speeding vehicle’s license plate, with the license plate data used to identify the registered vehicle’s owner on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Violators will receive a notice of violation in the mail within 15 days.
The violation is similar to a parking ticket in that it won’t count as points against the driver’s license. If a driver other than the registered vehicle owner is photographed driving over the speed limit, the registered owner of the vehicle must pay the fine.
The penalty for violating the speed limit depends on how fast the driver is going. The fines are:
- $50 for driving 11 to 15 mph over the speed limit.
- $100 for driving 16 to 25 mph over the speed limit.
- $200 for driving 26 mph or more over the speed limit.
- $500 for driving 100 mph over the speed limit.
Each council district in Los Angeles will get at least eight or nine speed cameras.
Nearly 300 people are killed every year in traffic crashes in the city, with speed serving as the leading factor in the collisions.
Under Assembly Bill 645, 125 cameras will be placed in 15 council districts in high-injury areas, school zones and street racing hot-spots.
Speed cameras have been shown to reduce speeding by 31% to 82% and fatal crashes by 53% to 71%, according to LADOT.
The statewide pilot program will include the cities of Los Angeles, San José, Oakland, Glendale, Long Beach and San Francisco.
