Speeders beware: Legislation would allow automation crackdown

New legislation would allow San Francisco and San Jose to install cameras that detect when someone is speeding and ensure that a ticket is issued. New legislation would allow San Francisco and San Jose to install cameras that detect when someone is speeding and ensure that a ticket is issued. Photo: Tony Dejak, Associated Press Photo: Tony Dejak, Associated Press Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Speeders beware: Legislation would allow automation crackdown 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Aiming to get drivers to hit the brakes, San Francisco Assemblyman David Chiu introduced legislation Wednesday that would allow San Francisco and San Jose to install cameras that detect when someone is speeding and ensure that a ticket is issued.

Chiu made the announcement at a news conference in the lobby of San Francisco General Hospital, where five victims of car collisions are treated daily.

Speeding is the leading cause of pedestrian fatalities in the two cities, supporters said, and slowing traffic saves lives. While cameras at controlled intersections that detect red-light runners are legal in California, cameras that nab speeders are not.

“If San Francisco had automated speed enforcement, the driver might not have been going so fast and my mother might not have been so seriously injured,” said Jenny Yu, whose mother, Judy Szeto Yuen Man Yu, was struck by a car in the Richmond District. She suffered broken bones as well as brain damage that left her with multiple personalities and in need of constant care.

“This crash took away mom’s ability to live a normal life.” said Jenny Yu, who attended Chiu’s news conference.

Also attending were other families of people killed or severely injured when they were hit by cars, Mayors Ed Lee of San Francisco and Sam Liccardo of San Jose, and transportation and health officials along with San Francisco Police Chief William Scott.

The legislation calls for a five-year trial. It would authorize the use of automated devices that measure speeds and trigger cameras that capture images of speeding cars and their license plates. Owners of cars found exceeding the speed limit by at least 10 miles per hour would then be mailed citations of no more than $100, including court fees.

Cameras would be placed on posts along some of the cities’ deadliest streets, focusing on areas where speeding is common. In San Francisco, those streets include stretches of Market Street and Geary Boulevard, said Paul Rose, a spokesman for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

Traffic signs would be put in place warning drivers that speed cameras lurk ahead, and for the first 30 days after cameras are installed, drivers would be mailed warning tickets that do not include a fine.

Scott said the speed cameras are not an attempt to raise money, a complaint critics are sure to voice.

“Let’s be clear: Our goal is to save lives — not write tickets,” the police chief said.

But what will drivers think? Those interviewed at a South of Market gas station had a variety of thoughts.

“Eeeeeew. I don’t think that’s good,” said Jermaine Scott, 38, a San Francisco delivery driver who lives in Richmond. “That’s real sneaky. But it could save lots of lives around here. This place has become a danger zone for pedestrians.”

Proponents say automated speed enforcement has slowed drivers and deaths from traffic collisions by impressive amounts: a 53 percent reduction in deaths in Portland, Ore., a 31 percent decline in speeding in Chicago, and a 13.4 percent decrease in injury accidents near cameras in New York.

Some motorists, however, worried that cameras won’t give drivers the benefit of the doubt and won’t understand that they might have accelerated to avoid an erratic driver or a double-parked truck, or in advance of a hill.

Speed enforcement “is a human job,” Taj Turner, 36, a San Francisco salesman who lives in Oakland, said. “I think it’s a horrible idea, especially in a city where a lot of people don’t drive. They’d be hurting Uber and Lyft and taxis, people who are just trying to make a living.”

The legislation is sure to face opposition in Sacramento. Past efforts have stalled in the Legislature after criticism from the American Automobile Association and the trucking industry. Chiu said he hopes to persuade those groups to at least stay neutral.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com