- Authorities may have collected over $4 million in about 40 days.
- Fines from the speed cameras range from $50 through to $500.
- First-time offenders will escape with a written warning, not a fine.
Forty days is all it took to turn a traffic-calming measure into a revenue engine. New speed cameras scattered across Oakland have started fining drivers, and the early numbers are eye-watering: thousands ticketed, millions implied. If you drive in Oakland, watch your speedometer.
The rollout began in January, when 35 automated cameras went live across 18 locations. For the first stretch, between January 15 and March 14, they handed out warnings only. After that the gloves came off, and second-time offenders started getting actual fines.
Read: LA’s New Automated Camera System Doesn’t Wait For A Judge To Act
Those caught speeding between 11 and 15 mph over the speed limit for the first time will get off with a warning. Speaking with The Oaklandside, OakDOT information officer Kent Bravo revealed that between March 15 and April 25, the city issued 82,000 citations and 69,000 warnings.
The report says that the program is now running at more than 2,000 tickets a day, an average of 60 citations and 50 warnings per camera daily, according to a May 7 presentation by OakDOT speed safety camera program manager Craig Raphael.
As you’d probably expect, local authorities aren’t keen to say how much revenue they have collected from the cameras. The minimum fine is $50, which would amount to $4.1 million when accounting for the 82,000 tickets issued. However, that $50 fine is only applicable if you’re caught speeding between 11-15 mph over the limit. The real haul could potentially be lower, The Oaklandside notes, as the city’s low-income and public benefits discounts could cut those $50 fines to $25 or $10.
From there it climbs. The fine increases to $100 for offenses between 16 and 25 mph over the limit, to $200 for breaking the speed limit by more than 26 mph, and to $500 for those driving 100 mph over the limit. If drivers meet certain low-income criteria, the fines can be reduced to as little as $10.
The speed camera collecting the most revenue is the one facing southbound at 2345 73rd Avenue. It has issued 8,127 citations and 5,500 warnings through the first 40 days of operation. Drivers have been caught averaging 44.7 mph on the 30-mph stretch of road.
The next-busiest sites tell a similar story. Southbound at Hegenberger Road and Spencer Street pulled 6,902 tickets southbound at an average 55.3 mph in a 40 zone, 2206 73rd Avenue caught 6,147 northbound, and the 2710 Broadway camera logged 6,118 on a stretch recently cut to 20 mph from 25, a change locals suspect is a speed trap.
