Give the city power to target speeding
Ijust went through my fourth Mother’s Day without my beautiful son Sammy. He was just 12 years old when a speeding van ended his life. Bright, athletic, kind and caring, he had so much promise. Yet his life was cut short in an instant because politics has for far too long gotten in the way of protecting our children and is still doing so today.
A speed camera and the threat of a fine might have slowed that van down and saved Sammy, but the current law does not allow the city to have a speed camera where Sammy died. That has to change.
It’s a no-brainer: Speeding kills; speed cameras save lives. A pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling at 30 mph is twice as likely to be killed as a pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling at 25 mph.
The current speed camera program in New York City is highly effective at preventing tragedy where it is allowed, but it is far too limited in scope.
Lawmakers in Albany cannot adjourn for another year without voting to expand the use of speed cameras. There is no excuse for inaction. Our children and families cannot live without it.
This is plain common sense, but as always there is an argument against it. Opponents call speed cameras a greedy cash grab designed to fill city coffers at the expense of motorists. That is nonsense. The program’s only goal is to slow drivers down, change our culture of driving and save lives.
We know the program works. According to new data, speeding is down by more than 60% in locations where speed cameras are permitted, and injuries at speed camera locations have declined by an average of almost 15%, despite the fact that the cameras are deactivated during most of the year.
Moreover, tickets prompt a real behavior change. Only 19% of license plates recorded by speed cameras were repeat violators over the last three years.
Tragically, the current program allows speed cameras only if they are directly abutting schools and during school hours only. Meanwhile, 85% of traffic deaths and serious injuries over the last few years occurred outside these parameters.
As it stands, the city is actually prohibited from placing speed cameras in the most dangerous intersections and using them reckless during the most hazardous times of the day. The city can’t even put a camera in 65% of the locations where it gets some of the most frequent complaints about speeding!
That makes no sense. It has to change now. As I know all too well from Sammy’s eighth-grade experience, children in New York City can cover quite a bit of ground on their way to and from school, and their schedules are often filled with after-school activities and other trips later in the evening.
Our children deserve better. They have a right to be protected at all times of day.
This is not a game of gotcha. A program meant to rake in extra dollars would be designed to catch people by surprise and charge exorbitant fees. On the contrary, “Photo Enforced” signs are placed at the approaches to all camera locations and the fine is a mere $50 if you speed excessively (more than 10 miles over the speed limit). That’s far less than the cost of a summons issued by a police officer for speeding.
Under Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero program, New York City has made real progress on creating safer streets. Last year was the safest on our streets in recorded history. But we can and must do better, and we know how to do better. The way forward is clear. We have the tools and we know they work. Assemblywoman Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan) and state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-Queens) deserve real credit for championing legislation to expand the speed camera program. Their bill must pass without delay.
As the state enters what Gov. Cuomo calls “speed week,” during which state police are cracking down on people who are driving over the limit and otherwise behaving recklessly on the roads, lawmakers have an opportunity to make a lasting impact in a meaningful way.
My son was in middle school. He was killed in a place and time where speed cameras are not currently allowed. For all the Sammys and for all of their mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers, let’s do the right thing and expand the use of speed cameras right away.