Collaborative effort by the Mayor, Speaker Johnson, City Council and Governor Cuomo comes on the heels of inaction by leaders in the State Senate that jeopardized the safety of NYC children
A day before 1.1 million children return to school, Mayor Bill de Blasio held a public hearing for and signed Intro. 1089, which preserves and expands the use of speed cameras near schools where speeding is prevalent. The law will immediately be enforced at 140 schools where speed cameras previously existed. The City will be expanding the use of speed cameras to an additional 150 schools, bringing the total number of protected schools to 290.
In the 2018 legislative session, a similar bill was introduced in the State Legislature, which had originally enacted the speed cameras program five years earlier. The bill, A7798C/S6046C, passed the Assembly overwhelmingly. However, the bill was never brought to the floor for a vote in the State Senate even though a bipartisan majority of State Senators co-sponsored the legislation. As a result, the Mayor, Speaker Corey Johnson, the City Council and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo worked together to find a legislative solution that will continue to keep our children and other pedestrians safe.
“The clock has been ticking, and the State Senate has refused to provide speed cameras to protect the lives of our school children,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “We refuse to let their politics endanger our children, so the City is stepping up to provide these life-saving tools just in time for when 1.1 million children return to school. I would like to thank Governor Cuomo, Speaker Johnson and the rest of the City Council for working with us to get our speed camera program back on in the nick of time.”
“We know that speed cameras save lives, and yet the Senate Republicans let this critical program expire and put our children in jeopardy. We will not stand idly by as the Senate Republicans play politics with the lives of our children. With the school year upon us, I took emergency measures to reinstate the speed camera program, and I thank Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Johnson for working together with the State to keep our children safe. This is an extraordinary action for an extraordinary situation, and it is not a substitute for the State Senate acting responsibly and passing the life-saving speed camera legislation,” said Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.
“School starts this week. The time for playing politics is well past over. I promised that we would do everything in our power to make sure kids were safe on the first day of school, and I am proud that we were able to make this happen today. I would like to thank Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo for working with us on this life-saving legislation, as well as the Transportation Committee Chair Ydanis Rodriguez for his tireless commitment. And I remain ever grateful to the advocates who have shown us the definition of determination and strength time and time again this summer. Together we have made our streets safer in the name of 1.1 million school children,” said Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Sponsor of Intro. 1089.
“As 1.1 million students return to school for the start of a new year, I'm relieved that this life-saving safety measure will be in place in more school zones than ever before,” said Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza. “Nothing is more important than the safety of students and staff – thank you to Mayor de Blasio, Governor Cuomo and Speaker Johnson for taking action to protect our students.”
“Thanks to the Mayor, the City Council, with Speaker Johnson’s Leadership, and the Governor, New York’s schoolchildren will return to school tomorrow protected again by speed cameras,” said Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “We know the cameras have saved lives over four years of Vision Zero, and DOT looks forward to expanding them to more schools that need them.”
"Speed cameras play a critical role in keeping students, school staff and families safe and losing them would have been devastating. As we welcome students back this week, it is a major accomplishment that speed cameras will continue to calm traffic and save lives," said NYPD Chief of Transportation Thomas M. Chan.
Speed cameras installed in New York City school zones have reduced traffic injuries to pedestrians, motorists and cyclists by 17 percent, while reducing speeding by 63 percent on average. 81 percent of cars that received one speed camera violation do not receive a second.
Beginning immediately, vehicles caught exceeding the speed limit by more than 10 miles per hour by a camera in a school zone will be issued a $50 ticket.
Before this legislation passed the City Council, Governor Cuomo signed an Executive Order directing the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to share car owner data with the City for enforcement purposes.
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