De Blasio To Albany: Let NYC Turn Speed Cameras On 24/7

To address the deadly increase in speeding drivers on New York City streets, the City government announced on Tuesday that they will ask the state legislature to pass a law that would allow the city to keep speed cameras on 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Currently, state law only allows speed cameras to be on from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays. The cameras must be located in 750 designated school zones, issuing $50 fines to drivers who traveler more than 10 mph above the speed limit. In 2020, the 950 cameras located in those zones have so far logged more than 4 million fines, roughly double the 2019 tally.

"These restrictions don't make sense," Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters during his morning briefing.

"Anyone who hears the word 'speed cameras' and they immediately don't like that....I can sympathize," de Blasio continued. "I've had moments as a driver where I wasn't careful enough, and I got one of those speeding tickets. No one likes it. But you know what? They change behavior. They get people to start slowing down."

237 people have been killed in traffic crashes so far this year, the highest number since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office and announced the Vision Zero initiative in 2014. While pedestrian fatalities dropped from the 2019 total, cyclist, motorist, and motorcyclist deaths either increased or remained high.

Ed Pincar, the Department of Transportation's senior borough commissioner, told reporters on Tuesday morning that the agency found "shocking" trends when analyzing the speed camera data against this year's traffic fatalities.

"Seventy-five percent of fatalities happened in places, or at times, when no speed camera was in operation," Pincar said. "Far more disturbing was this: 66 out of 185, or 36% of non-highway fatalities this year, happened within school zones with cameras, but those happened at times when the cameras were not in operation."

Pincar cited DOT data showing the effectiveness of the speed cameras: they reduced speeding by 71.5%, and injuries by 16.9%, and two-thirds of vehicles cited by the cameras did not receive another violation in the same calendar year.

A pedestrian struck by a driver traveling at 30 mph is twice as likely to be killed as a pedestrian struck by a driver going 25 mph, according to the DOT.

"Simply, to address the disturbing trend of speeding, we need New York City’s speed cameras to be on at all times," Pincar said.

NYPD Chief Kim Royster, who was recently tapped to lead the police department's Transportation Bureau, said she would personally lobby the state legislature for the speed camera changes.

"Yes, I would lobby for anything that would keep our communities safe, especially anything that’s going to make sure people are going to check their behavior, which is recklessly riding through New York City and on our highways," Royster told reporters on Tuesday.

While speed camera enforcement has soared, the NYPD's own speed enforcement dipped in 2020, from 116,649 summonses issued through November, compared to 139,839 last year.

Royster blamed that drop on several factors.

"One is the pandemic came in and our officers were subject to being removed off the streets as a result of the unknown," Royster said. "Two, is we were forced to realign and redeploy our resources to things that were happening around the city, in the area of unrest. And when the fiscal year came about, we took some budget cuts that forced us to realign our resources, as well as to be able to make sure the city was safe, we had to make sure our officers were in certain locations."

A DOT release announcing the de Blasio administration's new position on speed cameras features four members of the State Senate and eight members of the State Assembly voicing their support.

Reps for the State Senate's Deputy Majority Leader, Michael Gianaris, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The DOT will continue to keep installing speed cameras in the 750 districts, with the goal of having 2,000 cameras by the end of 2021, making it the largest program of its kind in the country.

Transit advocates applauded the city's request to the state legislature, but pointed out that the de Blasio administration could be doing much more on its own to decrease the number of fatal traffic crashes.

"The mayor controls the streets here in the City, and he can make a real difference right now by installing proven traffic calming measures that save lives. New Yorkers need safe street investments, additional protected bike lanes, and a commitment from Mayor de Blasio during his final year in office to once-and-for-all put people before cars," Cory Epstein, a spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives said in a statement.

Arleen Soto is the sister of Jose Contla, a 26-year-old who was killed by a hit-and-run driver in February. Soto said that as a driver, she supported speed cameras because they work.

"Personally, if I know there’s a speeding camera, I try and go 25 or lower, I don’t care if they honk at me," Soto said. "We live in the city, cars are constantly going over 25. Me, as a driver, I know the frustration. Sometimes they get desperate. The limit’s 25, and they want to drive 30, 35, and it’s a big difference."

Soto said that even before her brother was killed, she was acutely aware of how dangerous New York City streets are.

"I always had this mentality that it could happen, because my husband works as a delivery boy, he delivers food. He’s on the bike, constantly," Soto explained. "There has been incidents where he's like, oh I just got hit...I’ve been prepared. OK, I have told myself. It could happen."

This story has been updated to correctly reflect Ed Pincar's title as senior borough commissioner.