Malibu’s New PCH Speed Cameras Logged About 100,000 Violations in Nine Days. Nobody Has Been Ticketed, and the Contract Is Has a Five-Year Ceiling of About $14 Million.
During a test of Malibu’s new Pacific Coast Highway speed cameras in mid-September, the system recorded more than 100,000 would-be violations in about nine days, ABC7 reports. The cameras were not issuing warnings or citations, the city says, so every one of those was a trial run.
The number matters for two reasons. It shows how widespread speeding is on a road where, per the state senator who wrote the enabling law, 134 fatal or serious-injury crashes occurred on Malibu roads from 2019 to 2023. And it frames a vendor contract that the city council itself sent back for revisions.
- ~100,000test violationsat four camera locations, Sept. 16-24 — ABC7 Los Angeles, Malibu Patch
- 86%in eastern Malibushare of the test violations by location — Malibu Patch
- $50-$500fine tiersfrom 11 mph over the limit up to 100 mph or more over — Malibu Patch, The Drive
- $2.8Mper year ceilingvendor contract not-to-exceed amount, about $14 million over five years — Santa Monica Daily Press
- $4.5Mprojected yearly revenueon an estimated 227,176 citations and a 40% collection rate — Santa Monica Daily Press
The test ran Sept. 16 to 24 at four locations, and about 86% of the detections were in eastern Malibu, Patch reports. Enforcement is set to begin at 11 mph or more over the limit. The fine schedule is $50 for 11 to 15 mph over, $100 for 16 to 25, $200 for 26 to 99, and $500 at 100 mph or more, with no license points or insurance penalty, per Patch and The Drive. Patch reports a first violation in the lowest tier draws a written warning rather than the fine.
The rollout has since slipped. Patch, the Santa Monica Daily Press and LAist report a 60-day warning period beginning in November, and FOX 11 adds that citations begin in January. City public safety manager Luis Flores attributed the delay to “some last-minute installation changes to the infrastructure of the cameras,” per FOX 11.
The program comes from SB 1297, written by Sen. Ben Allen (D-Malibu) and co-authored by Asm. Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks). The Legislature passed it on Aug. 30, 2024, and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) approved it, per CBS Los Angeles. Allen’s office describes it as allowing five cameras on the 21-mile stretch of PCH through Malibu, placed where speed-related collision rates are highest.
Sen. Allen’s office cites those 134 crashes as the case for the program. A fatal crash on the highway came after the law was signed: on Oct. 3 of this year a 16-year-old driver struck parked cars on PCH and killed Nobu chef Ryo Uchimiya, 51, NBC Los Angeles reports. Authorities said the driver did not appear to be under the influence, and no charges had been reported.
The vendor is Blue Line Solutions-CA, LLC, under a contract with a not-to-exceed ceiling of $2,801,751 a year over five years, plus a sixth year for decommissioning, about $14 million over the five operating years, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. The city projects roughly $4.5 million in annual revenue on an estimated 227,176 citations and a 40% collection rate. The city says revenue goes only to system costs and PCH safety, per The Drive. The two counts measure different things: about 100,000 detections in a nine-day test, and a yearly citation estimate whose derivation the Daily Press does not describe.
The contract also adds $35,000 for each additional 5,000 reviewed events above 20,000 a month. Interim City Attorney Trevor Rusin said that term needed review under California Vehicle Code section 22435(l), which bars vendor pay tied to violation counts; Blue Line’s chief operating officer said the fee covers back-office review. The council delayed final approval on May 4 and directed staff to revise the contract over legal-compliance questions, a racial equity review of the camera use policy and battery backup during power shutoffs, the Daily Press reports; council member Doug Stewart urged approval and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Uhring praised the cameras’ coverage. We did not confirm the final terms.
Gavin Newsom (D) — Governor of California; approved SB 1297.
Ben Allen (D-Malibu) — State senator; author of SB 1297.
Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) — Assemblymember; co-author.
Trevor Rusin — Interim Malibu city attorney; flagged the vendor-fee clause.
Luis Flores — Malibu public safety manager.
Two numbers will say whether this works as intended: how many of the 100,000 test detections repeat once real notices go out, and how many crashes follow. The first will be visible within months. The second will take years to show.
The cameras counted about 100,000 would-be violations in a test and issued none. The enabling law was written and signed by Democrats, the vendor contract carries a ceiling of about $14 million, and the council sent it back for revisions at a meeting where a fee clause tied to review volume drew a legal-review flag.
