Item 27 - Councilmember Requested Item Related to a Speed Safety System Pilot Program

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Bill Text - AB-645 Vehicles: speed safety system pilot program. https://Ieginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtmI?bill_i... This bill would require a $25 filing fee for an appeal challenging a notice of violation issued as a result of a speed safety system until January 1, 2032. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Cities of Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale, and Long Beach, and the City and County of San Francisco. Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal Committee: yes Local Program: no THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Speed is a major factor in traffic collisions that result in fatalities or injuries. (b) State and local agencies employ a variety of methods to reduce speeding, including traffic engineering, education, and enforcement. (c) Traffic speed enforcement is critical to efforts in California to reduce factors that contribute to traffic collisions that result in fatalities or injuries. (d) However, traditional enforcement methods have had a well -documented disparate impact on communities of color, and implicit or explicit racial bias in police traffic stops puts drivers of color at risk. (e) Additional tools, including speed safety systems, are available to assist cities and the state in addressing excessive speeding and speed -related crashes. (f) Speed safety systems offer a high rate of detection, and, in conjunction with education and traffic engineering, can significantly reduce speeding, improve traffic safety, and prevent traffic -related fatalities and injuries, including roadway worker fatalities. (g) Multiple speed safety system programs implemented in other states and cities outside of California have proven successful in reducing speeding and addressing traffic safety concerns. (h) The Transportation Agency's "CalSTA Report of Findings: AB 2363 Zero Traffic Fatalities Task Force;' issued in January 2020, concluded that international and domestic studies show that speed safety systems are an effective countermeasure to speeding that can deliver meaningful safety improvements, and identified several policy considerations that speed safety system program guidelines could consider. (i) In a 2017 study, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) analyzed studies of speed safety system programs, and found they offered significant safety improvements in the forms of reduction in mean speeds, reduction in the likelihood of speeding more than 10 miles per hour over the posted speed limit, and reduction in the likelihood that a crash involved a severe injury or fatality. The same study recommended that all states remove obstacles to speed safety system programs to increase the use of this proven approach, and notes that programs should be explicitly authorized by state legislation without operational and location restrictions. (j) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gives speed safety systems the maximum 5-star effectiveness rating. NHTSA issued speed enforcement camera systems operational guidelines in 2008, and is expected to release revised guidelines in 2021 that should further inform the development of state guidelines. (k) Speed safety systems can advance equity by improving reliability and fairness in traffic enforcement while making speeding enforcement more predictable, effective, and broadly implemented, all of which helps change driver behavior. (1) Enforcing speed limits using speed safety systems on streets where speeding drivers create dangerous roadway environments is a reliable and cost-effective means to prevent further fatalities and injuries. SEC. 2. Section 70615 of the Government Code is amended to read: 70615. The fee for filing any of the following appeals to the superior court is twenty-five dollars ($25): 2 of 11 4/12/2026, 3:10 PM