Around 20 speed safety cameras were activated in locations around Los Angeles on Monday, as part of the Speed Safety Systems Program, according to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT).
The program was designed to limit speeding and began installations in April by LADOT, which said 125 automated speed safety cameras would be installed in the city in 2026. Cameras will be installed at the University Park campus at South Figueroa Street and West Adams Boulevard, and another will be installed at the Health Sciences campus near the intersection of North Mission Road and Marengo Street.
The program is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2026, according to LADOT. According to LADOT, the rollout is part of a five-year pilot program. Depending on the location, posted speed limits in the areas range from 25 to 45 miles per hour, according to LADOT. If drivers go beyond the limit by 11 miles per hour or more, it will cost drivers a minimum of $50. Fines could reach as high as $500 if drivers are going over 100 miles per hour.
The fines will not be enacted until Dec. 26. Instead, the department will issue warnings for the next 60 days before the violations are issued, according to LADOT. In accordance with California law, the cameras will not capture any identifiable information other than license plate numbers.
“The city remains committed to protecting driver privacy through an “Adopted Use Policy,” LADOT said in a statement to Annenberg Media in April. “Cameras capture only the rear of the vehicle and the license plate. State law prohibits the use of facial recognition technology or the storage of interior vehicle images, ensuring that enforcement focuses solely on vehicle speed and road safety.”
As for USC students commuting to campus, some of these speed cameras are directly on their route. For sophomore electrical and computer engineering major Logan Grant, his weekly commute on Fridays and Sundays to and from Encino has now been impacted.
“I think maybe they aren’t 100% needed, but I think they could help with the people that do street racing, and I think they will make you drive slower for sure because I don’t want to pay that much money,” Grant said.
The locations of the cameras were specifically picked out as places that have had a history of a high number of crashes due to speeding, to combat traffic collision-related injuries and deaths, according to LADOT. Approximately one in five crashes in Los Angeles resulting in death during 2024 was directly related to speeding, according to LADOT.
Grant doesn’t think that the cameras will solve the problem of speeding in L.A. entirely.
“People know they have that 10 miles per hour buffer, so they’ll squeeze out every mile per hour above the speed limit they can before they get a ticket,” Grant said.
Isabella Lobaina, a junior studying theatre as well as public relations and advertising, regularly drives in the area and thinks there are both pros and cons to the implementation of speeding cameras.
“The benefit is that it might encourage people to drive slower,” Lobaina said. “On the other hand, it’s going to take quite a while to implement. L.A. is known for [being] a very unsafe driving environment, but that’s just the culture of L.A., and I feel like with them being implemented now, it’s going to take three or so years for it to actually be a little safer on the roads.”
Giorgia Armino, a sophomore international relations and global business major, lives right next to the South Figueroa Street and West Adams Boulevard intersection, and frequently drives past the location where the new camera will be installed.
“I’m honestly upset about it because sometimes, you’re not even speeding intentionally. You’re just going with the flow of traffic, and I think that’s an overstepping of boundaries,” Armino said. “I guess it will help make the roads a bit safer, but I’m also sure it will also make the traffic problem worse.”
Armino also believes that it will take time before the cameras are fully effective, saying that only once people actually get mailed the first ticket will the program begin to have an impact on speeding.
Other cities in California, such as San Francisco and Oakland, have already seen success with the cameras, according to local government officials. In San Francisco, Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office released a statement on Oct. 15, explaining how, with the new cameras, speeding has dropped 84% since its implementation on March 20, 2025.
Edited by Nina Kremer