PCH speed camera poles going up at five Malibu locations Play

About 30 metal poles are going up this week along PCH in Malibu, as the full visual impact of the PCH speed cameras is coming into focus.

At five locations, on both sides of the highway, the poles will support so-called speed radar cameras. Monday, the city started its official PR campaign.

We say “so-called” because they are not actually using radar at all. The cameras actually use LIDAR.

Radar uses radio frequency waves that reflect off objects, measuring range, angle, and using the Doppler effect to calculate speed. LIDAR fires rapid infrared laser pulses to measure how long light takes to bounce back.

The big difference: most radar detectors sold in America — to people who want to avoid getting tickets — will not detect LIDAR signals.

There are five installations, each with cameras and other devices on both sides of the highway — a constellation of as many as four poles at each location.

This is happening in a city where the government objected to relatively uncomplicated informational speed radar cameras that went up two years ago. The first versions of those signs were too big and too flashy, residents complained. Wait until they see the signs going up now.

In about four weeks, the new LIDAR cameras will start spitting out warnings, which will be mailed out but which will not demand payment. At around Thanksgiving, the tickets will include fines, starting at $50 for an 11 mile per hour violation.

These are civil penalties. No license points or insurance penalties will apply.

The city says strong privacy protections apply. The city will own the data and will regularly delete it.

But by their nature, the speed cameras will function as license plate readers. And all across the country, law enforcement agencies are somehow getting ahold of this data.

The city policy is that the cameras will begin recording only when a speed violation is detected. Data involving vehicles that are not in violation will be deleted immediately. And the stored violation records will be destroyed within 60 days after a case is resolved.

The signs, the poles, the cameras, the overhead equipment — it's all going up now. Stand by for the reaction.