Long Beach launches citywide speed camera system to reduce traffic incidents

The city of Long Beach has launched a new citywide speed safety system in an effort to reduce traffic incidents.

On Wednesday, city officials will have a ceremony to officially activate these cameras. They want drivers to know these cameras are here because they want them to slow down.

City officials said last year, they had their highest number of traffic deaths in over a decade. They're hoping these speed cameras will start to change that.

The cameras have been installed in school zones and areas where there have been a high number of collisions. Officials said they will only be activated when a vehicle is traveling 11 miles or more over the speed limit.

The cameras will also only take a photo of the vehicle's rear license plate. There's no video, facial recognition or automated license plate reader technology.

The speed safety program is being run by Public Works, which means personal information is not shared with the police department.

Warnings will go out for the first 60 days, which means there won't be any citations issued until December. 

Long Beach is not the only city where these speed cameras are going up. Los Angeles and Glendale are also getting them, thanks to a pilot program authorized by the State Legislature. The goal is to reduce traffic deaths, not make money, so fines will actually be reduced for some people under the poverty line. Los Angeles will activate their first cameras later this month. 

In November, Malibu will start using its own speed cameras along Pacific Coast Highway, after a series of deadly crashes. The city will also begin with a 60-day warning period before issuing any citations. But during a testing period last month, they recorded approximately 100,000 speeding violations across four speed camera locations.