Speed cams going 24/7 on Aug. 1
Devices also target red-light violators
Lead-footed drivers beware! New York City’s speed and red-light cameras will begin ticketing drivers around the clock starting Aug. 1, Mayor Adams announced Thursday.
The new hours were approved by state lawmakers last month and will be in effect for three years. Since 2019, the cameras were only permitted to operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays.
The city Department of Transportation plans a monthlong outreach campaign to warn latenight drivers to slow down and stop for red lights if they want to avoid $50 tickets issued by the cameras.
“New Yorkers deserve to be safe on our streets 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and keeping our cameras on is a critical step in that direction,” said Adams. “Speed cameras work: They save lives, reduce speeding, and help protect New Yorkers all across the city. And we are expanding this proven program to ensure that New Yorkers have that protection at any time of any day.”
City data show roughly 60% of fatal traffic crashes across the five boroughs occurred during hours when the cameras were turned off. At least 110 people have been killed in car crashes in the city so far in 2022.
Aside from the expanded hours, nearly everything else about the city’s traffic camera enforcement program will remain the same. There are 2,060 speed cameras in 750 areas near schools, transportation officials say. Roughly 200 red-light cameras are operating at 150 intersections across the city, officials said.
The cameras will only ticket drivers who are caught running a red light or moving at least 11 mph above the speed limit, which is 25 mph in nearly all of the city. It’s a more lenient policy than speed-camera programs in other major cities like Chicago, where tickets are issued to anyone who drives at least 6 mph over the speed limit.
Each speed or red-light violation caught by a camera is reviewed by a Transportation Department staffer before the car’s owner is sent a ticket.
The city’s push to expand the hours cameras issue tickets came down to the wire. Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez had urged members of the Legislature to give the city “home rule” over its traffic cameras, which would have allowed his agency to roll out more cameras and hours of enforcement without approval from Albany.
State lawmakers snubbed the city’s pitch — and by April city officials pivoted to asking for 24/7 enforcement instead. When Rodriguez returned to Albany in May, he confounded his colleagues in city government by again pushing for home rule.
Rodriguez later returned to Albany with Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi to secure a deal on 24/7 enforcement.