MAYOR ADAMS “FLIPS THE SWITCH,” TURNS ON SPEED CAMERAS 24/7

 

Beginning Tonight at 10:00 PM, NYC’s 2,000 Speed Cameras Will Help Keep New Yorkers Safe Around the Clock

 

Program’s Expansion Follows Monthlong, Multilingual, Multimedia Public Education Campaign Reminding New Yorkers of Expansion and Importance of Safe Driving

 

Speed Cameras and Automated Traffic Enforcement Are Proven, Effective Safety Tools

 New York City Mayor Eric Adams today flipped a ceremonial switch to mark the expansion of the city’s speed camera program that will help keep New Yorkers safe around the clock. Beginning tonight, the city’s 2,000 speed cameras in 750 school zones citywide will operate 24/7 for the first time. Throughout July, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), the New York City Police Department (NYPD), the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), and other agencies and offices in the city’s Vision Zero Task Force led a multimedia, multilingual public awareness campaign to inform drivers of the coming change and remind them to drive safely and responsibly. Speed cameras and automated traffic enforcement are proven tools that prevent dangerous behavior and crashes, reducing speeding by 72 percent on average.

 

“Traffic safety is public safety, and today marks the start of a new chapter for traffic safety in our city,” said Mayor Adams. “This is a promise made and promise kept: Together with Deputy Mayor Joshi, Commissioner Rodriguez, and advocates, we fought to get this done in Albany. We must ensure that everyone can share the street space safely, and 24/7 speed cameras will protect our city and save lives.”

 

“Speeding kills. With cameras on 24/7, New York City gains an important lifesaving tool against this reality,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “On behalf of all road users, I want to extend deep gratitude for all those who fought tirelessly for this important advancement in roadway safety.”

 

“We know speed cameras save lives, and, starting tonight, we expect to save even more of them,” said DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “We offer special thanks to the advocates who made today happen, especially Families for Safe Streets, who have turned their pain into purpose.”

 

The city’s 2,000 automated speed cameras were previously authorized by the state to operate only on weekdays, between 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM — missing the 59 percent of traffic fatalities that occurred when the cameras were previously required to be turned off. A state law supported by the Adams administration and signed in June by New York Governor Kathy Hochul now allows the cameras to operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Nearly one-third of on-street traffic fatalities occur in camera zones at times when cameras were previously not permitted to operate.

 

The expansion of the speed camera program marks another major action of the Adams administration to keep New York City’s streets safe. Already this year, Mayor Adams has made a historic commitment to invest more than $900 million in critical street safety initiatives; laid out a plan to redesign 1,000 intersections across the city to protect pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers; and launched a $4 million campaign targeting speeding and reckless driving.

 

“The NYPD is committed to driving down fatalities,” said NYPD Chief of Transportation Kim Royster. “Extending the hours of speed cameras in our communities is another layer of enforcement that will hold reckless drivers accountable and protect our most vulnerable road users. We support this technology and will work with our Vision Zero partners to educate the public. The message is clear: Slow down. Everyone should drive safely because traffic safety is public safety.”

 

“The Sheriff’s Department understands the urgency to take corrective action,” said New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda. “We will continue to identify these violators and hold them accountable for endangering our community.”

 

“Speed cameras are a critical component for reducing traffic-related injury and death,” said New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan. “This expansion will have profound benefits for the health and safety of New Yorkers. Reducing speeds on our roads will not only save lives, but it will also spare us from preventable loss and trauma that results from traffic crashes. Thank you to the mayor and DOT for this pivotal contribution to public safety and public health.”

 

“Speed cameras are an essential tool to keep all New Yorkers, from pedestrians and cyclists to TLC-licensed drivers and passengers, safe from traffic violence — but they can’t be effective when they’re turned off,” said TLC Commissioner and Chair David Do. “We are grateful to our government and advocate partners for helping to expand the city’s speed camera program and ensuring that road users are protected from reckless drivers regardless of the time of day.”

 

“Today marks a huge victory for Vision Zero and promotes safe driving, increased accountability, and heightened focus,” said DCAS Commissioner Dawn M. Pinnock. “With the activation of speed cameras 24/7, 365 days a year, our streets will be safer, we’ll reduce traffic incidents, and we’ll save lives. As a Vision Zero Task Force member, we believe in setting safety standards that improve quality of life and protect all New Yorkers.”

EDITOR'S NOTE:

If speed cameras worked people would not be getting two, three, four, five, ten, or more speed camera tickets. Mayor Bloomberg in order to keep more police officers on patrol and out of traffic court got the speed camera program passed in Albany. There is no more a deterrent to speeding than paying a fine three times that of a speed camera, points on your drivers license, a possible suspension of one's drivers license, and increased insurance rates due to the police issued speeding ticket.

It was a street not in front of a school that was surveyed by the DOT, but a street many blocks from a school that was behind the Russian Embassy in Riverdale on a downward slope leading to the Henry Hudson Parkway South to Manhattan (and the U.N.) that was surveyed. DOT said that over ninety percent of the drivers were speeding by at least one mile over the then 30 M.P.H. speed limit. There was no breakdown of the different speeds cars were going, just at least one mile over the speed limit.