City will begin rapid installation of new speed cameras beginning July

speed cameras

Speed camera located on Marsh Avenue near the Staten Island Mall. (Staten Island Advance/Erik Bascome)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – In less than two months, the number of speed cameras and their hours of operation across the five boroughs will double.

Beginning on Thursday, July 11, speed cameras will begin to operate year-round between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., including summer and school vacations.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the Department of Transportation (DOT) will begin rapidly begin installation of the new cameras, approximately 40 every month, through the remainder of the year and 60 per month in 2020.

“Our streets are about to get a lot safer for children,” de Blasio said. “We fought to expand our speed camera program and we won in Albany. Now it’s time to rapidly scale up our program to save lives and keep our kids safe.”

City School’s Chancellor Richard A. Carranza said the cameras “quite literally save lives” of the school’s 1.1 million school children.

Polly Trottenberg, DOT commissioner, also calling the cameras life-saving, said: “We are hopeful that we can continue to make progress on Vision Zero, where we have seen fatalities decline in New York City for five years running.”

WHAT’S IN THE NEW LEGISLATION?

The legislation signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this month also amends language that will now allow cameras to be placed within a quarter-mile radial distance from a school and expands the number of camera-enforced school zones from 140 to 750.

New cameras will also be installed on high-crash corridors throughout the city, including on Hylan Boulevard.

“Such city shall prioritize the placement of photo speed violation monitoring systems in school speed zones based upon speed data or the crash history of a school speed zone,” according to the legislation.

The legislation also updates the annual reporting requirements to include information related to the effectiveness of operating hours, in addition to information regarding city government funding allocations to improve traffic and pedestrian safety.

NEW PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN

De Blasio also said that a new public education campaign would alert drivers of the major changes made to the law.

Bulk mailings, newspaper notices, online ads, LinkNYC displays, as well as drive-time radio spots will begin informing motorists of the changes.

The DOT will also begin a 30-day countdown to the change on social media beginning the week of June 9.

Additionally, the mayor is looking to escalate fines and suspend the vehicle registrations of repeat speeders and red-light running offenders, as well as require physicians to notify the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) following a medical event that could affect a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle safely.

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