Philly Council member wants to cut fines for speeding violations caught on camera
The city lowered the speed limit on North Broad Street from 35 mph to 25 mph before the speed cameras were installed last year. Young says the decision was not transparent.
Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr.’s bill to reduce fines for speeding violations caught by automated enforcement cameras has alarmed safety advocates who say it would weaken a program that saves lives.
Philadelphia roadways saw a 26% one-year drop in crash fatalities in 2025, according to the city’s annual Vision Zero report, released Monday. Officials credited increased use of automated speed-enforcement cameras.
“Consistent, visible enforcement changes behavior,” Lana Harshaw, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, said in an interview. “Reducing the fines just goes against that goal.”
Young said in an interview that he supports heightened safety enforcement on North Broad Street, which runs through the heart of his 5th District, but introduced the bill “to make sure that the law is fair and equitable.”
Neighborhoods along the corridor are some of the lowest-income areas of Philadelphia, the poorest big city in the country.
Speeding violations fell 67% on Broad Street between November 2025, when cameras began operating, through March 30, according to the Parking Authority, which runs the program.
Traffic fatalities have fallen by 40% on Roosevelt Boulevard since automated speed enforcement cameras were installed there in 2020.
It is too early to see the cameras’ effect on crashes, injuries and deaths on Broad Street because they are too new. Crash statistics, which come from PennDot, lag by a year.
But the experience on Roosevelt Boulevard shows “this is a successful public health effort, not a money grab,” said Corinne Lagermasini, executive director of 5th Square Advocacy.
“We worry that the costs will give permission” for elected officials to “wind down the program,” she said.
Harshaw said, “A monetary fine is minimal compared to a life lost because of a driver’s momentary decision.”
Speed cameras in Philadelphia issue violations starting at 11 miles over the speed limit, which is mostly 25 mph on Broad Street, except for the area around the sports stadiums on South Broad Street.
The fine is now $100 for traveling up to 20 mph over the limit in an area covered by speed cameras, $125 for going up to 29 mph over, and $150 for exceeding the speed limit by 30 mph or more.
Young’s legislation would change the fines to $50, $75 and $125, respectively.
No hearing date has been set for the legislation. Young said it may be amended to apply only to areas in the 5th and 8th Districts close to North Broad in response to concerns from colleagues.
Young believes that the fact of a fine itself is a deterrent to speeders, not the amount of the penalty.
New York City has a flat $50 fine for speeding violations issued by camera, he said, and still has reported a 94% reduction in fatal crashes. The NYC program operates only in school zones citywide.
“I don’t think people are going to say, ‘You know what, the fee is reduced, so I’m going to speed now because I can afford to speed,’” Young said. “Drivers don’t think like that.”
