Alerts

Assembly Bill 6681 is under consideration in the Assembly Transportation Committee. If passed, this measure would allow New York City speed cameras in school zones to operate 24 hours a day year round. Current state law limits the hours of operation from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm weekdays. The bill would also increase penalties for violations as well as increase the duration of the “pilot” program from 2022 to 2025.

The NMA is opposed to this bill. It is clearly an attempt to leverage an already dubious enforcement regime for additional revenue. The NMA is also opposed to automated traffic enforcement in general, including speed cameras, for a number of reasons including:

• Photo radar can generate false readings
• This type of automated enforcement emphasizes ticket volume
• There is no certifiable witness to the alleged violation
• The driver of the vehicle is not positively identified by the camera which means, by default, the owner of the vehicle receives the ticket whether or not he/she was the driver at the time of the alleged violation
• Speed cameras have not been shown to improve traffic safety