Data Sources & Methodology

The public map contains 2,738 documented coordinates generated on August 6, 2026. Counts describe source records in our dataset, not tickets issued or guaranteed active devices.

Location sources in the map

OpenStreetMap

1,187

location records after validation and deduplication

As of 2026-08-06 · live Overpass refresh

Nodes tagged highway=speed_camera. Community-maintained coordinates can be incomplete, outdated or differently classified.

Source and terms

Open Database License (ODbL)

City of Chicago Open Data

512

location records after validation and deduplication

As of 2026-08-06 · official API refresh

Official speed and red-light camera datasets. Records with malformed or non-Chicago coordinates are rejected.

Source and terms

City of Chicago open-data terms

DDOT / DCGIS Open Data

293

location records after validation and deduplication

As of 2026-08-06 · official live-layer refresh

Automated Traffic Enforcement records marked Active and Live. Truck-restriction cameras are excluded.

Source and terms

District of Columbia open data

Montgomery County Police Open Data

475

location records after validation and deduplication

As of 2026-08-06 · live official APIs

Active speed-camera and non-deactivated red-light-camera records, including official address and speed-limit fields where supplied.

Source and terms

Montgomery County ArcGIS open data

Baltimore DOT Open Data

201

location records after validation and deduplication

As of 2026-08-06 · live official APIs

Final fixed-speed and red-light camera records from Baltimore City DOT datasets.

Source and terms

Baltimore City ArcGIS open data

Arlington County Open Data

location records after validation and deduplication

As of 2026-08-06 · live official APIs

Active photo-speed and non-retired photo-red camera records with direction and posted-speed context where available.

Source and terms

Arlington County GIS open data

Lakeland GIS Open Data

location records after validation and deduplication

As of 2026-08-06 · live official APIs

Official red-light camera intersections and approach directions published by Lakeland GIS.

Source and terms

City of Lakeland GIS open data

Geographic validation: US Census Bureau 2025

State and city assignment uses the Census Bureau's 2025 cartographic boundaries. A coordinate must fall inside one of the 50 states or DC. City names are assigned only when a point falls inside a Census place boundary; rural or unincorporated records remain state-level locations.

State boundaries Place boundaries

IIHS community program records

IIHS community tables identify reported speed or red-light enforcement programs but do not provide exact device coordinates. They are published as program-information pages and never converted into map pins or camera counts.

Snapshot: August 2026. IIHS reports 357 red-light and 373 speed-camera community listings. Our parser normalizes 584 unique state/community records after excluding highway-wide labels.

IIHS red-light communities IIHS speed-camera communities

State-law source

Every state and DC law record is parsed from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety safety-camera law table, including permission language, permitted locations, whether cameras are reported in place, penalties and special provisions. Snapshot: 2026-08.

IIHS safety-camera laws

Validation and publication rules

Fetch into cache and reject unexpectedly small or malformed responses.
Reject impossible coordinates and points outside Census state boundaries.
Assign state and city names with polygon containment, never free-text camera names.
Prefer official local records when a same-type OSM point is within 35 metres.
Publish all 50 state pages plus DC and every city record backed by at least one documented coordinate, an IIHS program entry, or both.
Write JSON through temporary files and atomic rename only after invariants pass.

Important limitations

A listed coordinate does not prove that the device is active, calibrated or issuing citations.
Absence from the map does not prove that no camera exists.
OSM coverage varies by contributor activity; official local datasets do not cover every jurisdiction.
Laws and fine amounts can change; the issuing notice, court and current agency information control.

Corrections

Send a camera ID, source link and correction evidence to info@speedcams.us.