HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-037 - Speed Safety System Pilot Program RESOLUTION NO. 2026-037
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA ANA REQUESTING THAT THE CALIFORNIA
STATE LEGISLATURE AMEND ASSEMBLY BILL 645
(FRIEDMAN) TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY OF SANTA ANA
TO ESTABLISH A SPEED SAFETY SYSTEM PILOT
PROGRAM
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Ana is the most densely populated city in Orange
County, serves as the County Seat, and contains some of the county's highest
concentrations of pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, school-aged children, and seniors;
and
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Ana is centrally located in the heart of Orange County
and is bounded by Interstate-5 to the north, Interstate-405 to the south and State Route-55
to the east and has over 100 miles of roadway including 15 major arterials that move over
500,000 vehicles per day; and
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Ana is identified by the Federal Highway Administration
and the Southern California Association of Governments as a safety priority area; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Santa Ana is committed to eliminating
traffic fatalities and serious injuries through implementation of the City's Vision Zero
Action Plan, adopted in 2024, and related transportation safety initiatives; and
WHEREAS, excessive vehicle speed is a leading contributing factor in fatal and
serious injury traffic collisions and significantly increases both the likelihood and severity
of crashes involving pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and motorists; and
WHEREAS, the California Legislature recognized these safety concerns through
the enactment of Assembly Bill 645 (Friedman, Chapter 808, Statutes of 2023),
establishing California's first Speed Safety System Pilot Program to evaluate automated
speed enforcement as an evidence-based strategy for reducing excessive speeding and
preventing fatal and severe injury crashes; and
WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 645 authorizes only the Cities of Los Angeles, San Jose,
Oakland, Glendale, Long Beach, and the City and County of San Francisco to establish
Speed Safety System Pilot Programs through January 1, 2032; and
WHEREAS, in 2024, the Legislature enacted Senate Bill 1297 (Allen), expanding
the pilot program to authorize the City of Malibu to establish and operate a Speed Safety
System Pilot Program after determining that Malibu faced unique roadway safety
challenges warranting participation; and
Resolution No. 2026-037
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WHEREAS, Senate Bill 1297 established an important legislative precedent
demonstrating that additional California cities may be added to the pilot program when
justified by documented transportation safety needs; and
WHEREAS, through Senate Bill 1297, the Legislature demonstrated its willingness
to expand the Speed Safety System Pilot Program to additional jurisdictions when local
transportation safety conditions justify participation, thereby establishing a clear
legislative precedent for future expansion; and
WHEREAS, other California jurisdictions, including the City of Berkeley, have
formally requested legislative expansion of Assembly Bill 645 to include additional cities
with demonstrated roadway safety needs; and
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Ana experienced 3,487 total collisions in 2025,
including 1,943 total injured and 26 fatalities with unsafe speed the main factor in many
of the collisions; and
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Ana has one of the highest concentrations of
pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and other vulnerable roadway users in Orange
County and continues to experience disproportionately high numbers of pedestrian and
bicycle injury collisions among California's largest cities; and
WHEREAS, a substantial portion of Santa Ana residents rely on walking, bicycling,
and public transportation for daily travel, and improving roadway safety for these
vulnerable users advances transportation equity and protects historically underserved
communities where more than 50 percent do not have access to a private vehicle; and
WHEREAS, Santa Ana consistently ranks near the top among comparably sized
California cities in pedestrian and bicyclist injury collisions, according to the California
Office of Traffic Safety, demonstrating a continuing need for additional transportation
safety tools; and
WHEREAS, the City has experienced multiple recent fatal excessive speed-related
collisions, including a crash on Segerstrom Avenue in April 2025 that claimed the lives of
five young adults, followed by another fatal reckless speed-related collision along the
same corridor only months later, further demonstrating the ongoing public safety risks
associated with excessive speeding; and
WHEREAS, the City has adopted and continues to implement numerous
transportation safety initiatives including the Vision Zero Action Plan, General Plan
Mobility Element, Active Transportation Plan, Safe Routes to School Program, Complete
Streets policies, neighborhood traffic calming improvements, enhanced pedestrian
crossings, bicycle infrastructure improvements, and the First Street Multimodal Boulevard
Study; however, excessive speeding continues to contribute to preventable fatalities and
serious injuries; and
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WHEREAS, Automated Speed Safety Systems are intended to complement, not
replace infrastructure enhancement, education, and traditional traffic enforcement by
providing consistent, objective, and continuous speed enforcement at locations with
documented speeding and crash histories; and
WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 645 Includes significant privacy and civil liberties
protections, including restrictions limiting image capture to rear license plates, prohibitions
on facial recognition technology, strict data retention requirements, confidentiality
protections, independent auditing, public reporting, and limitations on the use and sharing
of collected information; and
WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 645 also requires participating jurisdictions to adopt a
Speed Safety System Use Policy, prepare a Speed Safety System Impact Report,
conduct public outreach, establish equity and privacy safeguards, provide reduced
penalties and diversion opportunities for qualifying low-income individuals, and evaluate
program effectiveness through ongoing reporting; and
WHEREAS, early results from California's operational Speed Safety System Pilot
Programs have demonstrated substantial reductions in excessive speeding, indicating
that automated speed enforcement can be an effective component of a comprehensive
roadway safety strategy; and
WHEREAS, participating jurisdictions including Long Beach, Glendale, Oakland,
San Francisco, and Malibu have established administrative, operational, and policy
frameworks demonstrating that Speed Safety Systems can be implemented responsibly
while protecting privacy and due process; and
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Ana believes that participation in the Speed Safety
System Pilot Program would provide an additional evidence-based tool to reduce
excessive speeding, prevent fatalities and serious injuries, and further the City's Vision
Zero goal of eliminating traffic deaths; and
WHEREAS, inclusion of Santa Ana would provide valuable implementation data
from one of California's most densely populated urban environments and further the
State's ongoing evaluation of automated speed enforcement technologies.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Santa
Ana, that:
Section 1. The City Council hereby finds and determines that the foregoing
recitals are true and correct and are hereby incorporated by reference.
Section 2. The City Council respectfully requests that the California State
Legislature amend Assembly Bill 645 (Friedman) to authorize the City of Santa Ana to
establish and operate a Speed Safety System Pilot Program consistent with the
requirements applicable to other participating jurisdictions.
Resolution No. 2026-037
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Section 3. The City Council finds that Santa Ana possesses demonstrated
transportation safety needs comparable to or greater than several jurisdictions currently
participating in the pilot program and therefore merits legislative inclusion.
Section 4. The City Council further finds that participation in the pilot program
would advance the City's Vision Zero Action Plan by providing an additional transportation
safety tool to reduce excessive speeding, prevent fatal and severe injury collisions,
improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety, and enhance overall roadway safety.
Section 5. The City Council directs the City Clerk to transmit certified copies of
this Resolution to Governor Gavin Newsom, Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, Senator
Tom Umberg, Senator Ben Allen, Assemblymember Laura Friedman, the League of
California Cities, and any other appropriate state legislative representatives and
agencies.
Section 6. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by the
City Council, and the City Clerk shall attest to and certify the vote adopting this Resolution.
ADOPTED this 4th day of August, 2026.
al rie mezcua
ay r
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Sonia R. Carvalho, City Attorney
By: A9 ZA�
0 ellesen
Assistant City Attorney
AYES: Councilmembers Amezcua Bacerra Penaloza, Phan (4)
NOES: Councilmembers Hernandez Vazquez 2
ABSTAIN: Councilmembers None 0
ABSENT: Councilmembers Lopez 1
Resolution No. 2026-037
Page 4 of 5
CERTIFICATE OF ATTESTATION AND ORIGINALITY
I, JENNIFER L. HALL, City Clerk, do hereby attest to and certify the attached Resolution
No. 2026-037 to be the original resolution adopted by the City Council of the City of Santa
Ana on August 4 2026.
kN, _._.
Date:
Jenni a
City Cle
o nta a
Resolution No. 2026-037
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