Does California Have Speed Cameras? Cities, Fines, and Appeals

Yes, California does have speed cameras, but only in a limited pilot. Assembly Bill 645, signed in October 2023, authorized six cities to install automated speed enforcement systems on certain streets. San Francisco was the first to begin issuing real fines, on August 5, 2025, and other authorized cities are rolling out their own programs. The pilot is set to expire on January 1, 2032, so this remains an experiment rather than a permanent part of California traffic enforcement.¹

Which California Cities Have Speed Cameras

The statute names six jurisdictions: Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale, Long Beach, and San Francisco.² You may see online lists that add a seventh city such as Malibu. The law itself includes only these six.

San Francisco’s Speed Safety Camera program launched with warnings on March 20, 2025. After more than 350,000 warning notices, cameras began issuing real citations on August 5, 2025, at 33 locations across the city.³ Long Beach has also begun implementing its program.⁴ The remaining cities are at various stages of planning and deployment.

Where the Cameras Can and Cannot Operate

Cameras under AB 645 are restricted to specific high-risk locations: school zones, streets with a documented history of serious injuries or fatalities, and corridors with recurring street racing. They cannot be placed on state routes, freeways, expressways, U.S. highways, interstate highways, or public roads in unincorporated county areas where the California Highway Patrol has primary jurisdiction.²

Before a city can issue any citations, it must run a public information campaign for at least 30 days and post clear signage near each camera. Every new camera location then triggers a separate 60-day warning-only period, during which drivers receive notices in the mail but no fines.²

What a Speed Camera Ticket Costs

A camera only triggers when a vehicle is going 11 mph or more over the posted limit. Anything under that buffer produces no citation. Fines scale with speed:

11 to 15 mph over: $50
16 to 25 mph over: $100
26 mph or more over: $200
Over 100 mph: $500

These amounts are considerably lower than a comparable officer-issued speeding ticket in California. More importantly for most drivers, speed camera citations add no points to your driving record and do not affect your driving privileges.⁵ Insurance companies generally cannot raise premiums over a citation that carries zero points, though it is worth checking your specific policy.

Any revenue a city collects beyond the cost of running the program must be spent on traffic-calming measures within three years. If it isn’t, the surplus is redirected to the state’s Active Transportation Program.⁵

Reduced Fines for Low-Income Drivers

Each participating city must offer a diversion program. Drivers earning up to 125% of the federal poverty level can receive an 80% reduction in the fine. Drivers earning up to 250% of the federal poverty level qualify for a 50% reduction. Eligibility can be established with proof of income or enrollment in qualifying public benefit programs.⁴

How to Contest a Speed Camera Ticket

These citations are civil, not criminal, so the challenge process is administrative. In San Francisco, you typically have 21 days from the citation date to file a protest. The process runs in stages: an administrative review where you submit evidence, then an in-person hearing if that review is denied, and finally an appeal through the local Superior Court.

The strongest challenges usually fall into a few categories:

Warning period violation. Each new camera location must issue warnings only for its first 60 days. A fine issued during that window should not stand.
Signage problems. If required signs were missing, obscured by trees, or blocked by construction, the citation is vulnerable.
You weren’t the driver. The camera photographs only the rear license plate, so the citation goes to the registered owner. If someone else was driving, you can submit a declaration of non-liability.
Image or technical errors. A blurry photo, a misread plate, or the possibility that another vehicle triggered the sensor puts the evidence itself in question.

Each camera unit must be calibrated according to manufacturer instructions and inspected at least once per year by an independent calibration laboratory, with documentation retained for at least 180 days after a system is decommissioned.² If a city cannot produce those records on request, that opens another avenue to challenge the ticket’s reliability.

What Happens If You Ignore the Ticket

A speed camera ticket will not simply disappear. Even though these are civil penalties, unpaid traffic fines in California can lead to additional penalty assessments on top of the original amount, referral to a collections agency, and wage garnishment or tax refund intercepts through the Franchise Tax Board’s court-ordered debt collection program. An unpaid balance that reaches a collection agency can also appear on your credit report, where it may stay for seven years.

If the fine is beyond what you can pay, apply for the low-income reduction or request a payment plan rather than letting the notice sit.

Will Speed Cameras Stay in California

AB 645 is a pilot. It expires on January 1, 2032, unless the legislature acts to extend or make it permanent.¹ The lower fines, absence of license points, income-based reductions, and hard sunset date all reflect legislative caution after seven earlier speed camera bills failed to pass between 2005 and 2022. Whether cameras become a permanent tool in California traffic enforcement will depend on the data the six pilot cities produce over the coming years.

1
LegiScan. CA AB645 2023-2024 Regular Session Enrolled
2
California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code VEH 22425
3
SFMTA. Speed Camera Tickets Start Today: What’s Next and the Impact So Far
4
City of Long Beach. Automated Speed Enforcement System Program
5
California Legislative Information. AB 645 Vehicles: Speed Safety System Pilot Program