No-cam-do pols in slow lane on school safety

The city doesn’t have its own plan to keep schoolchildren safe when classes resume in September if the state fails to reauthorize speed cameras, worried City Council members warned Wednesday.

“They’re not going to be better prepared and they don’t have any answers for me,” said Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D-Brooklyn). “We’re all sitting here sucking our thumbs.”

A council hearing turned contentious Wednesday as officials argued over how to best deter dangerous driving without speed cameras.

Deutsch wants the Department of Transportation and the NYPD to increase enforcement at schools as well as add additional traffic-control officers to curb congestion.

“We need people and enforcement and visibility,” said Deutsch. “It’s important that the traffic flows smoothly.”

Councilman Mark Gjonaj (D-Bronx) has submitted a bill that would place radarregistering speed-display signs at all schools. He says showing drivers how fast they’re going will encourage them to slow down.

“This is not a substitute for cameras,” said Gjonaj. “This is one additional tool to use. If we really have the interests of children at heart, we should pull out all the stops.”

Speed cams in 120 school zones were rendered inactive when state lawmakers failed to reauthorize funding as the legislative session ended in late June.

City officials and lawmakers are still hoping the state Legislature will reauthorize the legal use of speed cameras before the start of the school year in September.