Drivers beware: New York City has announced a massive five-fold expansion of its school speed-camera program. There will be thousands of additional cameras with longer hours of enforcement installed around the city over the next 12 months.
All 750 school zones will get speed cameras. Enforcement hours will now be from 6:00am to 10:00pm on weekdays year-round. The speed cameras will be calibrated to give you a ticket if you go 36 miles an hour or higher (11 miles over the speed limit). The fine is $50.
Workers recently installed the first of 2,000 new cameras at West End Avenue and 70th Street.
City officials said motorists normally get a ticket going 10 miles over the limit, but NYC added an extra mile to avoid motorists’ challenges. Mayor de Blasio defended the expansion, claiming it’s about safety, not revenue. The mayor also wants the state legislature, which had to approve the increase in cameras, to go further. He is calling for legislation to increase the fines for multiple violations and suspend the licenses of repeat offenders.
Last year, the city collected $45 million from the speed camera program. The city plans to start installing the cameras at the new school zone locations at the rate of about 40/month.
Source: CBS New York
