DAs in overdrive for school speed cams

State legislators need to “do their jobs” and reinstate speed cameras before the school year starts, four city district attorneys said Tuesday at a rally to keep the pressure on lawmakers.

“We know this saves lives. Why wouldn’t the Legislature pass this?” said Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. “We are asking them to do their jobs.”

Vance stood with Bronx DA Darcel Clark, Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez and Queens Assistant DA Robert Ciesla, representing DA Richard Brown, to push the state Senate to let the city put back the 140 speed cameras that had to come down when the law expired last month.

“There is a strong correlation between people who speed and the tragic crashes we see on our streets,” said Gonzalez. “These speed cameras are a good indicator.”

The state Senate refused to take up a bill to extend the program — which covers 20 school zones and has been found to reduce speeding by 63 percent — before the legislative session ended in late June.

The city had been running the Automated Speed Enforcement Program since 2014.

Since the program started, traffic fatalities around targeted schools plummeted 55 percent, according to Mayor de Blasio, who has also been urging the state to put the original cameras back as well as double the number to 290.

The district attorneys said the cameras must be back up by at least Sept. 5, the first day of public school in the city.

“Speed cameras are a simple and vital way to improve safety around our schools,” says Clark.

Gonzalez agreed, saying the more than 1 million schoolchildren returning to classes that day need the cameras in place.

“They should be able to be protected from people speeding by schools,” said Gonzalez, who would also like the state to pass a bill to suspend the registrations of cars whose drivers rack up too many speed-camera tickets. “This is about saving lives; we shouldn’t be meddling around with politics. Everyone deserves to be protected.”

A spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, who would have to reconvene the Senate for a special session to get the bill passed, said in a statement: “The Senate Republican majority made clear its willingness to extend the program to ensure the cameras stay on. It is unfortunate that others continue to ignore that fact. The ball is really in the governor’s and Assembly’s court.”

This is about saving lives . . . Everyone deserves to be protected. — Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez (right)