L.A. Speed Cameras Are Already Flashing, but Fines Are Two Months Off

Drivers going 11 mph or more over the limit get warnings first. After 60 days, fines run from $50 to $500.

The speed camera at La Brea Avenue and First Street was blinking at speeders two weeks before anybody switched it on. News video showed it flashing over and over as cars sped through, MyNewsLA reported Oct. 12, even though the camera wasn't sending anyone a warning or a ticket.

Now KTLA reports the city's new cameras are already flashing on the eve of Monday's launch. The flash still doesn't mean a ticket, and Monday doesn't either. The first cameras switch on with a 60-day warning period before any citation goes out, the city says.

During that stretch, drivers caught going 11 mph or more over the limit get a notice instead of a fine, KTLA reported. LADOT, the city's transportation department, said every street where cameras go live later gets its own 60-day grace period.

The first camera went up Oct. 1 on Santa Monica Boulevard, across from Kingsley Elementary School in East Hollywood, Streetsblog Los Angeles reported. On the Westside and in Mid-City, Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky's office listed three more besides La Brea and First: Fairfax Avenue at Clinton Street, Melrose at Hayworth avenues, and La Cienega at Pico boulevards. LADOT posts a map of installed cameras on its website, and the city's plan calls for 125 of them.

That's a fast turn. In mid-September, L.A. hadn't installed a single speed camera. LADOT now expects all 125 to be running by the end of the year.

Drivers wondering what the camera saw can relax a little. The city says it records license plates, not faces. The ticket money can't go to the city's general fund, Streetsblog reported. It has to be spent on street safety. The city also points to Oakland and San Francisco, which it says cut excessive speeding at camera sites by 70% and 84%.

Once the warnings end, the price climbs with the speed. It starts at $50 for 11 to 15 mph over, though a vehicle's first violation in that range still gets only a warning, Spectrum News reported, and it tops out at $500 for anyone clocked at 100 mph or faster. Count 60 days from Monday and the earliest of those fines lands in late December. Until then, the flash on La Brea is a free preview.

Source: mynewsla.com, retrieved October 25, 2026. Other sources: City of Los Angeles, ktla.com, la.streetsblog.org.