By Bob Tannenhauser
New York City’s 2,000 speed cameras will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, beginning today, August 1st at 10:00 PM. The speed cameras are located in 750 school zones throughout the city.
Previously, the cameras were only authorized by the state to operate on weekdays between 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM. The new law signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in June permits the cameras to operate 24/7. According to the NYC press release “nearly one-third of on-street fatalities occur in camera zones at times when cameras were previously not permitted to operate.”
If the cameras detect a vehicle going more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit a $50 fine will be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle within 14 days.
It is news to me that they DIDN’T operate 24/7
Put cameras on every corner!
Such great news. So long overdue. With huge respect for the activists and legislators who fought for this for so long.
Will the speed cameras monitor the bicycle riders? If so this will dramatically increase safety for pedestrians .
Good luck Finding the average pedal powered cyclist speeding in the streets. Mary. Or maybe you,d like to specify electric motorbike??
I hope so, but how will they enforce that? Cyclists are not registered in any way, no license plates (although delivery cyclists are required to be identifiable). So no way to do it
Bikes used to have to have a license. Time to bring that back!
Only 2% of pedestrian injuries are caused by bikes. 94% are caused by cars.
No bike accidents get recorded. I know of way more bike incidents than car accidents on the UWS. I bet none are included in that data.
Thanks for adding data to the conversation Tony!
Tony,
Actually in NYC many pedestrian injuries caused by cyclists are not recorded as such. This is especially true with elderly who may fall just being grazed by a cyclist.
Or my cousin, on her bike, was hit by a Citibiker going through a red light. My cousin did not realize the seriousness of her injuries until she got home.
Another cash grab dressed up as a “safety” concern. This disproportionately burdens lower income individuals. These cameras should record crimes as well once they are putting them up all over the place.
It burdens people who speed and does not discriminate on the basis of income.
It’s true that the burden of any fines will be felt much more keenly by lower income individuals. But we need to stop ALL reckless drivers from killing people. I don’t see you making any other suggestion as to how to do so. It’s essential to care about people all over our cities–of all ages, of all genders, of all races and ethnicities, of all social classes–who are being killed by reckless drivers?
Er, it targets people who drive cars…who are wealthy enough to have cars. And if they’re not speeding, they’re fine.
Having a car does not make you wealthy. I have a 10 yr old car that I bought used in 2016. It’s paid off because I had to work overtime to pay for it. I needed a car because where I worked and where I was going to college at were way too far from eachother for me to take mass transit
Sorry, but as a woman who is nervous to cross West End Ave,, this is not only “a saftety concern,” it’s a priority for me!
Don’t cross against the light and you’ll be fine
If only that were true. Look at how many pedestrians are killed by TURNING vehicles or by drivers who run red lights. Those pedestrians were not crossing against the light. Jaywalkers are less likely to be killed than those crossing with the lights. Look up the statistics!
Cameras or not, people will still get hit by cars.
Because they refuse to wait for the light and cross when it isn’t thier turn
No, this measure proportionately targets speeding drivers.
Why does it over burden lower income people?
Why does the price of food, clothing, and rent, over burden lower income people?
“It is illegal for both the rich man and the poor man to sleep under the bridge.”
The above seems fair but it is not, as only the poor have the need.
“Speed cameras catch high income drivers and low income drivers.”
That is actually fair.
Cash grab or not Mersh, it’s absolutely a safety concern. Completely agree with Mary but I’m afraid the cameras can’t identify vehicles that don’t display licenses and I don’t think bicycles have them. Neither I believe do those dirt bikes that are invading the city. So while it’ll help, the biggest problems IMHO remain unaddressed.
I am all for safety. I was once hit by a car as a pedestrian (concussion and broken bones but thankfully otherwise ok), so I probably developed stronger than average opinions on this topic. To be honest I am more scared of bikes when I cross the street now than cars.
But I also used to drive here enough to question the need for the cameras to be on 24/7 especially when nothing is done about reckless motorized bikes (often going the wrong way and against the light) and the ATV packs that wake many of us up at night.
Just before covid I remember getting a ticket at 1am from a cop doing radar at the end of the 66th street transverse going into the west side.
Two cop cars had their lights off and were recklessly parked in the left turning lane (which is actually illegal for them to do under the NY Vehicle Traffic Laws), there is no shoulder there.
I was going 36mph and got a ticket. Every other car that passed by was pulled over and there was a long line to wait to get processed. Most of the other drivers were taxi and uber drivers and it really struck me that it seemed unlikely to be purely about safety.
Perhaps some areas should have the cameras on 24/7 but I don’t think they promote safety everywhere (I.e. the west side highway downtown or ocean parkway in Brooklyn at 2am).
That’s cute. So you were speeding, got a ticket, but still want to complain and imply that there was something else going on?
All the other drivers were taxi/uber? Yeah, most other people are asleep at 1am.
ATVs? Yes, huge problem, but enough with the what-aboutisms. You were speeding, doesn’t help anyone either. Own it.
The speed limit was 25. You were doing 39. Ummm….
Speed cameras were never about safety, it is about money and spiting car drivers. Now you have the real lawbreakers using paper plates, license plate covers, or motorcycles and dirt bikes with no plates at all while good hardworking people are paranoid about driving with what would normally be the prevailing flow of traffic.
Now make an illegible or altered license plate like a parking ticket that traffic agents can enforce instead of a moving violation that requires NYPD. Or, the city already pays people to report vehicles that idle their engines for too long, how about a program like that for fake and illegible license plates? Give me half the fine and I can find 50 of them a day.
I love this idea Mark. But how would you report them to collect the bounty, if the plate is altered/illegible/missing?
I thought about that. The VIN is visible on the dashboard but yes it would be a problem tracing the cars that are completely illegal with totally made up fake plates. How about we just tow them all and ask the owners when/if they come to claim them?
It’s easy to find illegally altered plates – just walk by any NYPD station. There is always at least one.
So despite 24/7 speed cameras, the MoPeds that keep trying to run me down on Central Park West as they blow through all the traffic lights won’t be caught because none of them have licenses. Yeah that make sense Mayor Adams. Penalties for some but not for all.
The transportation alternatives and open plans cult wants to spite car drivers and push an agenda to ban cars that’s all.
How does a speed camera work to ban cars. I mean, check this out: if you drive past a speed camera without egregiously breaking the speed limit (cameras give tickets at 36 in a 25, 41 in a 30, etc.), do you know what the speed camera will do? Answer: Absolutely nothing.