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Andy Boenau
@Boenau
72% drop in dangerous speeds after cameras were installed. This is an important tool for changing driver behavior.
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San Francisco Chronicle
@sfchronicle
Though San Francisco’s speed cameras only began issuing fines in the final five months of 2025, they brought traffic tickets issued in the city to levels not seen in more than a decade. sfchronicle.com/sf/article/spe
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Andy Boenau
@Boenau
The goal is behavior change. Speed is the fundamental factor in severe, life-altering crashes. It's silly the way people think that consequences for reckless driving if some kind of abuse of power.
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Max Davids 
@maxxdavids
We have many in Australia and they are awful. It's a slippery slope. It starts with speed cameras then you get average speed cameras, then you get AI seatbelt / phone / "distracted driving" AI cameras. It's such a money grab.
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Andy Boenau
@Boenau
You sound like the type of person who should turn in their driver's license immediately.
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Jeremiah
@StartAIready
This is just a money grab and everyone knows that Take a road that is built and safe for 50mph, mark it down to 25mph. Now when everyone is driving 40mph on it they will rake in tons of ticket money. Nothing to do with safety or the chart would be showing a decrease in accidents
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Andy Boenau
@Boenau
Please study this physics equation and then rejoin the chat: Crash Energy = (1/2) x (mass) x (speed squared)
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Joe
@Josevato11
That's nice that people slowed down but much more useful statistic would be a drop in accidents. If that happens, you may have a point. Without that, there's no way to tell if the cameras are anything more than tax on people that are in a hurry.
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Steve Grant
@SteveGrant1862
Did accidents go down or did revenue for then city just increase? This only shows that revenue increased. To show that it’s beneficial, you need to show a reduction in accidents.
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Caffeine Powered
@Caffeindated
More traffic enforcement is good, wherever it comes from. I wish we didn’t abandon other types though. Unfortunately things like drinking and driving or reckless driving aren’t as enforceable with cameras.
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Ben Hirsch
@benahirsch
They’re not allowed in NJ because municipalities were shortening yellow lights to maximize revenue at the cost of safety.
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Ignatz
@VoiceofIgnatius
Needs to be income-based. If someone who makes $50k has to pay $500 then someone who makes $2 million should owe $20k
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Beezy
@BeezyManzell
Although the long-term trend reduction seems to predate the cameras which calls into question how much of the effect is due to driver knowledge of the cameras vs. road diets and other initiatives.
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The Education of O
@Ed_of_O
I like the Swedish system where there are cameras everywhere, even on rural roads, but the cars are programmed to notify you when they're coming up. Can't be caught unaware and can't claim ignorance. Work like speed bumps.
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TJ
@latent_musings
Great start, but speed is a very imperfect proxy for dangerous driving. But it is administratively easy and revenue generating. Beware going too far down this path as it doesn't address all bad driving, and can end up with a speed camera as a solution to a dangerous bit of road.
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THE Yeti Moose
@YetiMoose
If it did, this chart isn't showing that. This is a measure of the traffic tickets issues. IE it's tracking revenue, which as a motive for installing speed cameras in California is an illegal according to the courts.
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Craig
@user14201
We had incredible results from speed cameras in Ontario but our provincial government still scrapped them because apparently the speeder lobby is large. As soon as cameras were removed speeding increased hugely.
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Mr. Coffee King
@sexybeanzzz
You can easily find these results on every road nowadays. There's a road in my town that is 40, but everybody drives 60, and you know what, it takes 70-80 to pass someone. Just saying it is ultra dangerous.
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Ij
@IJoukov
Ok but also.. why did sfpd just totally give up on writing tickets after 2020?
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@BodySpec
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Daximus
@DaximusIII
Its fantastic if your goal is to control everyone. Who cares about the unseen costs right?
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jb
@murbar
This also frees up resources - cops don’t need to pull folks over for a speeding ticket
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TimTri
@appletimtri
Cameras are nice actually. In places where none are installed, this happens: - Rural road along a river at the very southeastern tip of Germany, speed limited to 50 kph due to rock fall danger. - Local overtakes me with 130(!) kph, which would be too fast even without rock fall.
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s_mo
@smo841603557184
SF is a vision zero city, so traffic deaths skyrocket in 2024 to the highest level since 2004 Vision Zero road diets are effective weapons progresives wield to lower quality of life and increase quantity of deaths
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tjpain
@tjpain2
Wow, revenues for the city increased? They were able to charge people with citations when they should have gotten warnings only?? What a system!! Take your mass surveillance and shove it where the sun don’t shine
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Jonathan Greene
@Jonn_no_h
Plz daddy gov put up more cameras to catch all the naughty rule breakers omg big brother plz spy on everyone more omg plzzzzzzzzzz
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LogicGate
@whatsup589_
A huge spike in revenue for the city without a huge drop in fatal car crashes. Lovely policy that. Autonomous driving will trend this statistic to zero and then they’ll lose the ticket revenue again. A dumb policy marked as progress.
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Glen Callahan
@GRC2302
Wrong metric. How many deaths and injuries were prevented? And how may cases of surveillance abuse emerged as a result of cameras?
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