A California speed camera ticket is $50 for driving 11 to 15 mph over the posted limit, $100 for 16 to 25 over, $200 for 26 or more over, and $500 for any vehicle travelling 100 mph or more. These amounts come from AB 645 itself, not from the city, so they are the same in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale and Long Beach.
The full schedule
The statute sets four bands. Under 11 mph over the limit there is no citation at all — the threshold is part of the law, not a courtesy. At 11 to 15 mph over, the penalty is $50, and a first violation in that band is a warning notice rather than a fine. At 16 to 25 mph over it is $100. At 26 mph or more over it is $200. And any vehicle recorded at 100 mph or more is $500, which is the statutory maximum.
One number that is easy to miss: the threshold is measured against the posted limit on that specific block, not a citywide number. A 20 mph block in the Tenderloin issues a citation at 31 mph. A 35 mph stretch of Alemany Boulevard issues one at 46. Two drivers doing the same speed on different streets can get very different outcomes, and one of them can get nothing at all.
What it drops to if you qualify
AB 645 requires income-based reductions, and San Francisco publishes exactly what they come to. Drivers who qualify as low-income pay half: $25, $50, $100 and $250 across the four bands. Drivers receiving public benefits — CalFresh, CalWORKS, Medi-Cal, CAPI or IHSS — pay 80% less: $10, $20, $40 and $100. SFMTA also offers community service in place of payment.
This is worth stating plainly because the headline number is what gets shared and the reduced number is what many people actually owe. An $11-over citation in San Francisco is $10 for someone on Medi-Cal. Los Angeles has not yet published its own reduction table, and we will link it here when LADOT does rather than assume the figures carry across.
What is not added on
A speed safety system citation is a civil penalty. It adds no points to your driving record and is not reported to the DMV as a moving violation, which is the single biggest difference from a ticket written at a traffic stop — points are what make an ordinary speeding ticket expensive for years after you have paid it.
Neither AB 645 nor either operating agency publishes court fees or assessments on top of these amounts, and both cities present the figures above as the amounts owed. If you see a site quoting a much higher "real" total, ask it for the source.
Who gets the bill
The camera photographs a rear licence plate, not a driver. The notice therefore goes to the registered owner regardless of who was behind the wheel. If your car was borrowed, the notice still comes to you. Both cities publish separate processes for rental and car-share vehicles, and for vehicles that had been sold or stolen at the time.
Where the money goes
AB 645 restricts what the revenue can be spent on. SFMTA states it may use the fines for two things only: covering programme costs, and funding street safety projects. It puts the anticipated total cost of its five-year pilot at $7.4 million, covering permitting, installation, operations and maintenance, with anything left over going to safety infrastructure along the High Injury Network.