LA is installing hundreds of speed cameras. Here’s how the city will catch and fine risky drivers

As the city of Los Angeles continues to struggle to reduce traffic deaths, local officials are planning to use new cameras to detect speeding drivers.

In a Thursday news conference, city leaders said that by the end of the year, cameras at 125 locations throughout the city will all be online. The first cameras will be operational by the end of October.

“Speed is the primary difference between a crash that injures and a crash that kills,” said L.A. Department of Transportation General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo at the news conference, held near an elementary school in East Hollywood where crews have installed a camera.

In the last decade, between 250 and 350 people in the city have died every year from traffic collisions. LAPD data from the end of September show that traffic deaths are up 14% compared with last year.

A program launched under former Mayor Eric Garcetti, known as Vision Zero, aimed to reduce traffic fatalities to zero by 2025. Instead, last year, 290 people died in traffic fatalities, exceeding homicides for the third year in a row.

“The implementation of speed safety systems in the city of Los Angeles is as groundbreaking and potentially lifesaving as the implementation of seat belts,” said Damian Kevitt, the head of the nonprofit Streets are for Everyone, which has long advocated for the cameras.

Where are the cameras and how will they work?

Each of the 125 locations will have two cameras monitoring cars traveling in both directions.

You can see an interactive map of camera locations here. LAist reported on the city’s methodology for choosing locations earlier this year.

If a driver is going at least 11 mph above the posted speed limit, a camera will capture a photo of the rear of the vehicle, including the rear license plate.

“This information is and will remain the sole property of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation,” Rubio-Cornejo said. “It cannot be shared with any law enforcement agencies without a court-issued subpoena.”

After the cameras at each of the locations are installed, there will be a 60-day period during which speeding drivers will receive a warning.

Citations and fines, which range from $50 to $500 depending on the severity of the speeding, will follow the warning period.

All warnings, citations and fines will be mailed to the registered owner of the offending vehicle.

Revenue generated from the cameras is required by state legislation to be invested in the city’s efforts to make streets safer.

Evidence from other cities show cameras deter speeding

L.A. is one of several cities permitted to pilot the speed cameras by state legislation authored by then-Assemblymember Laura Friedman.

“We have people who walk around our community every single day, who more and more are the victims of traffic violence from drivers who are driving recklessly and with a wanton disregard for the safety of other people,” said Friedman, who is now a Democratic U.S. Representative for California’s 30th Congressional District.

San Francisco deployed its cameras in May 2025. A year into the program, the city’s transportation agency said it had observed an 80% drop in speeding cars at camera locations. Two-thirds of drivers who were warned about or cited for speeding did not get another ticket, according to the agency.

The data is similar in Oakland, which launched its cameras in January. The Oakland Department of Transportation said that within six months, the number of cars speeding dropped by an average of 70% across the locations compared to baseline data it collected before the cameras were installed.

Other L.A. County cities, including Malibu, Glendale and Long Beach, are also participating in the program.