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PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 18, 2025

CONTACT: Jodie Medeiros, Executive Director, Walk SF, jodie@walksf.org, 415-596-1580 (cell); Marta Lindsey, Communications Director, Walk SF, marta@walksf.org, 617-833-7654 (cell)

San Francisco’s first speed cameras are up – and advocates will celebrate this lifesaving solution tomorrow morning

Daughter of crash victim to attend and toast this milestone for safe streets

WHEN: Wednesday, February 19, 8:30-9:00 AM

WHERE: The intersection of Geary Boulevard and 7th Avenue in the Richmond neighborhood

WHAT: Safe streets advocates, neighbors, and crash victims and loved ones will gather to celebrate the installation of the first speed camera in the Richmond neighborhood. 

The speed camera at Geary and 7th is one of the first to be installed in San Francisco and the state of California. 

Walk San Francisco and traffic victims worked for eight years to pass legislation allowing speed cameras to be made legal in California. 

This is a major milestone for bringing more aggressive solutions to San Francisco’s streets to prevent traffic crashes and protect communities from dangerous speeding.

VISUALS:   

  • Balloons, banners, and homemade signs celebrating speed cameras and urging drivers to ‘Go slow to save lives’

ATTENDING: 

  • Jodie Medeiros, executive director, Walk San Francisco
  • Jenny Yu, whose mother was hit by a speeding driver while crossing Park Presidio in the Richmond neighborhood. Jenny is a founding member of San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets. Jenny Yu personally met with dozens of state legislators asking for their support of speed camera legislation to prevent other families from going through what hers has. 
  • Other members of San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets, a group of people who have been directly affected by a traffic crash either as a victim or as a loved one
  • Families with toddlers and young children
  • Richmond district residents

BACKGROUND: 

Speeding is the #1 cause of severe and fatal traffic crashes in San Francisco and statewide. 

The faster a driver is going, the more likely a crash is to occur. A driver has a smaller scope of vision, less time to react, and can’t stop the vehicle as quickly. And the human body can’t withstand the additional force as speeds rise.

In 2024, 42 people were killed in traffic crashes in San Francisco, the highest number since 2007. More than 500 were severely injured in traffic crashes. Dangerous speeding is the leading cause of these crashes.

Assembly Bill 645, signed into law on October 13, 2023, allows San Francisco (plus Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale, and Long Beach) to pilot the use of speed cameras. 

AB 645 was a thoughtfully-written bill with strong privacy protections and equity considerations. AB 645 doesn’t allow any facial recognition with the cameras. Only the rear license plate of a speeding vehicle will be captured as part of the program. The data will be stored for SFMTA use only and will not be shared with any other agency, unless court ordered to do so. 

Speed camera violations have no criminal penalties and don’t add points against a driver’s license at the state Department of Motor Vehicles. San Francisco will reduce fines for those under the poverty line by 80% or offer community service, and reduce fines by 50% for individuals 200% above the poverty level.

Walk San Francisco and traffic victims worked for eight years to pass legislation allowing speed cameras to be made legal in California. With the significant role speeding plays in traffic crashes, it is a major milestone for safe streets that San Francisco can now use the proven solution of speed cameras at 33 locations.

California joins 21 states in allowing the use of speed cameras to enforce one of the deadliest driver behaviors. Speed cameras dramatically shift behavior and can reduce the number of severe and fatal crashes by as much as 58%. In New York City, the speed camera program has resulted in a 94 percent reduction in speeding at speed camera locations, a stunning reduction in reckless speeding since the program began.

San Francisco is the first city in California to launch speed cameras on its streets. Speed cameras will begin operation at 33 locations in San Francisco by March 2025. The cameras will be piloted for a five-year period on streets with the highest crash rates. Learn more about San Francisco’s speed camera program.

The Geary and 7th Avenue location was chosen by the SFMTA due to very high traffic crash rates, high levels of traffic, and significant speeding issues. 

  • Between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2024, there were 13 traffic fatalities and 710 recorded traffic crash injuries on Geary Boulevard between Van Ness Avenue and 48th Avenue. 
  • When the SFMTA did speed monitoring at 7th and Geary to determine camera placement, it found more than 14% of drivers going more than 10MPH above the speed limit each day – 4,440 vehicles. 

Pedestrians are at the greatest risk from speeding drivers, and it’s increasingly dangerous as vehicles are bigger, heavier, and are able to reach very high speeds in seconds. 

The automobile industry continues to design vehicles that are dramatically faster than in previous generations. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2022 Automotive Trends Report, the average American vehicle from model year 2021 could reach 60 mph in 7.7 seconds. This is about twice as fast as cars purchased in the early 1980s. Electric vehicles are even faster than the average American vehicle, with many reaching 60 MPH in only a few seconds.

Vehicles are also getting significantly bigger and heavier, raising the stakes for speeding. The average American passenger vehicle is now 8 inches taller and 1,000 pounds heavier than it was three decades ago. SUVs and trucks are now the dominant type of vehicle, making up almost 75% of the market share.

SOCIAL MEDIA

#SlowOurStreets #VisionZeroSF @walksf 

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Walk San Francisco (‘Walk SF’) advocates for safe streets for everyone who walks, which is everyone. Since our founding in 1998, Walk SF has been leading the way to make San Francisco a pedestrian-first city where people of every age and ability can walk safely. Learn more.

San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets is a group of people who have been directly affected by traffic crashes, including crash survivors and people whose loved ones have been killed or injured in traffic crashes. Learn more.