Albany must reauthorize enforcement cams



The 2,200 speed cameras spread out across 750 school zones in New York City are slowing down traffic and preventing crashes, so why is this effective, life-saving program at risk of vanishing? Ask the state Legislature, which nuttily micromanages the streets of America’s biggest city. The speed cameras will go dark by July 1, when the program expires absent a reauthorization.

We have a recommendation for state legislators, one that is unlikely to shock: reauthorize the program indefinitely. In fact, give NYC the power to run its own system with just the number and location of cameras we choose to put up, and let us set our own speed limits, to boot.

The city does not go hat in hand to Albany to determine what kinds of trash cans it will use, how it will run its public hospitals or how it will control the rat population. These are our public amenities, overseen by a municipal government that, for all its faults, is a selection of New York City’s electorate. We don’t need lawmakers from Buffalo or Binghamton horse-trading in Albany over whether we are allowed to safeguard our population from increasing danger of vehicular collisions, which have gotten more fatal over time.

Drivers seem to be driving worse, in larger and heavier cars, more distracted by the increasing ubiquity of devices and navigating proliferating couriers for food, groceries and e-commerce goods. These are trends that are unlikely to be reversed any time soon, and that leaves policymakers mainly with tools to enforce the law and compel compliance with road safety standards; this can be achieved through physical and design means, or through targeted enforcement efforts like speed and red light cameras.

That these are effective is not opinion but stone cold fact. A report released this week by the NYC Department of Transportation found that the cameras achieved an average 94% reduction in speeding violations from when they were first installed, which is a clear marker that they changed driver behavior. Research has shown that speeding is a significant contributor to traffic injuries and fatalities and so every bit of reduction in this conduct can ultimately safeguard the life and health of New Yorkers.

The data also makes clear that there’s a core group of drivers who do not change their behavior; more than 12,000 drivers received more than 20 speed violations in 2023, making them some of the most dangerous drivers on the road. For that reason, the City Council should reauthorize the Dangerous Vehicles Abatement Program and give it real teeth, to the point that it can actually get these reckless drivers off the road. To operate a dangerous vehicle is not an inherent right but a privilege, and one that can be taken away for those who don’t exercise it responsibly.

For all the benefits of congestion pricing, one potential eventuality of the program is that fewer cars on the road means those cars that remain have more opportunity and incentive to speed. We should be taking proactive action to ensure that New Yorkers are safeguarded from the perils of dangerous streets, as much a public hazard as disease or natural disaster, if slower-moving. Reauthorizing the cameras should be the bare minimum.



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