Automated speed enforcement cameras have been installed in Philadelphia. With the full support of the Mayor’s Office, City Council and the State Legislature, the City in partnership with the Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA), has started a pilot program administered by the PPA where speed cameras were installed along Roosevelt Boulevard.
The truth about automated speed enforcement cameras is that they save lives. Here are the facts:
Even though speed cameras may be new to our City, 15 states and 150 municipalities across the country have already started using them in the school zones and along roadways with high numbers of severe crashes.
Speed cameras have also been shown to substantially reduce the likelihood of fatal crashes and lead to long-term changes in driver behavior. When a similar automated speed enforcement program was installed in New York City, speeding at camera locations went down by 63 percent and fatal crashes went down by 55 percent (NYCDOT Automated Speed Enforcement Program Report 2014-2017).
After analyzing crash data and observing historically high-injury corridors, we have decided to install speed cameras along Roosevelt Boulevard. But why?
Roosevelt Boulevard was chosen because it has the highest rate of crashes in the City. In fact, crashes along this 12-mile corridor account for 8 percent of all fatal and severe injury crashes in our City.
60 percent of the crashes on the Boulevard were either speeding related or a result of aggressive driving. On top of that, there were 2,695 crashes that happened between 2013 and 2017; resulting in 62 deaths and 77 severe injuries on Roosevelt Boulevard alone.
Implementing an Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) Program means that there will be uniform and consistent speed enforcement. This will help us manage driving speeds as well as reduce the number of crashes resulting in serious injury or fatalities.
This is the first time automated speed cameras have been introduced to Philadelphia. How will these changes affect you?
Well, it actually will not affect most Philadelphians! Speed cameras will only capture the licenses of vehicles that are going 11 MPH or more over the posted speed limit; and each violation is reviewed and double-checked by a Police Officer. Fines start at $100 and can rise up to $150 depending on how much over the posted speed limit a vehicle was going.
Speeding violations spotted by the cameras are also not considered a criminal act. If you do receive a violation, points will not be added to your license. Additionally, speeding violations identified through the Program cannot be used by your insurance company to adjust your merit rating or rates.
Privacy is also an issue that should not be worried about. All information and images relating to speed camera violations can legally only be used for this Program and are not to be released as a public record.
During this pilot program, we will be working with the PPA studying the impact of automated speed enforcement along the 12 miles of Roosevelt Boulevard to see if the Program actually changed driving behaviors and reduced fatalities. After five years, the State Legislature will determine the future of this Program.
We believe that the Program will bring us one step closer to achieving the goal of zero traffic deaths by 2030, laid out in the City’s Vision Zero initiative. It also has great potential to reduce deadly crashes and positively affect driving behaviors along Roosevelt Boulevard, saving lives in the process.
