Fair Warnings: Recommendations to Promote Equity in Speed Safety Camera Programs

Speed safety cameras are widely used internationally and in more than 240 communities in the United States as a traffic safety strategy. When well designed, operated, and monitored they can deter drivers from speeding. When they are not, their use can exacerbate inequities or cause unintended harm. With this report, the authors fill in the gap in understanding of the equity impacts of speed safety camera programs. They also make recommendations to help communities using speed safety cameras address high speeds and equity concerns that threaten and affect communities of color and low-income communities.

Recommendations:

• Prioritize upstream, preventive safety measures along with—or in place of—speed safety cameras wherever possible.
• Restrict fines to reasonable amounts that are the lowest possible to influence behavior change.
• Begin with a warning period before issuing tickets with fines.
• Refrain from adding unrelated fees and surcharges to tickets and from using criminal penalties and disproportionate sanctions, such as license suspensions, for the inability to pay.
• Provide options for nonfinancial sanctions, reduced payments and partial payments over time to align with people’s ability to pay.
• Direct revenue to roadway safety projects—ideally those associated with camera locations— and not to a jurisdiction’s general fund or other expenses.
• Develop road safety metrics to assess the effectiveness of the overall program and individual camera locations.