In her State of the State address, Gov. Hochul called for lowering New York’s high car insurance premiums. One way to achieve this would be legislative actions and enforcement targeting scofflaw drivers disproportionately responsible for costly crashes, and vehicle owners illegally not paying for insurance in New York — or at all.
A new campaign from a group of special interests seeks to lower insurance rates by further burdening crash victims: lowering liability requirements, limiting pain and suffering damages, and ending “no fault” insurance, which allows crash victims to immediately cover expenses without lengthy litigation. There is a better solution.
From New York City Department of Transportation reports and public data, we know that speeding is the top contributing factor to traffic fatalities. Vehicles with 16 or more speed camera violations (of which there were 14,707 in 2025) are at a two times greater risk of a serious crash, with the 2,830 vehicles with 30 or more violations 50 times the risk. Vehicles with multiple red light camera violations are an even greater risk. Those with 3.3 red light violations are a five times greater risk, with the risk level increasing rapidly with more violations.
Cameras perform an essential duty, especially as police enforcement is so difficult on city streets. For every speed ticket issued by the NYPD, cameras issue 65.
Yet despite repeat violators’ drivers increased risk for crashes, state law amazingly prohibits insurers from using camera violations to charge higher insurance rates. Albany further protects scofflaws by limiting the quantity and location of cameras. These issues need to be fixed.
Furthermore, NYPD enforcement should be integrated with automated enforcement to target vehicles with large numbers of camera violations. Yet currently, NYPD officers and Traffic Enforcement Agents (“meter maids”) do not check or target vehicles with repeat camera violations or unpaid fines. Technology including license plate readers and smart ticketing devices integrated with the Department of Finance database could solve this gap.
Uninsured drivers, an estimated 8.6% of New York motorists, also add to the economic risk without paying at all. Studies show they are far more likely to crash. They should be a top priority for the NYPD. Yet in the first three quarters of 2025, NYPD issued only 2,849 tickets for operating without insurance. NYPD should develop automatic capabilities to identify uninsured vehicles whether moving or parked to get them off the road.
More than 3 million speeding incidents observed by DOT cameras were unable to be ticketed due to fake, obstructed, or missing plates in 2023. Yet the much touted Task Force on Ghost Plates from Hochul and Mayor Adams just 5,343 vehicles from March 2024 to August 2025 were towed for suspended registrations and fraudulent, obstructed or altered plates.
This means for every towed vehicle, there were unticketed 800-plus speeding events. And City Council investigators recently found nearly 20% of out-of-state plates did not match the vehicle. It is likely these vehicles are more likely to crash and to be uninsured. Efforts to impound vehicles with fake plates need to be greatly increased, and penalties need to be more severe.
Many city residents defraud insurance companies by ignoring state law requiring they register their vehicle where it is garaged. A recent study found 21,000 vehicles with plates from outside of the tri-state area or Pennsylvania that received at least one violation in the city in each quarter in 2025, suggesting that they are garaged here. These are likely the tip of the iceberg of vehicles here permanently but not paying their share. Here too stronger enforcement and stricter penalties are needed.
Finally, Mayor Mamdani promised to crack down on corruption. In a recent lawsuit the city settled for $175,000, a Staten Island officer alleged he was demoted for summonsing drivers who possess one of 300,000 “courtesy cards” issued by police unions.
NYPD is entrusted to save lives by enforcing traffic laws. That their unions have cards exempting members’ friends and family from enforcement is an outrage. While no data are public, it isn’t hard to imagine that drivers immune from NYPD traffic enforcement endanger New Yorkers and increase insurance rates for all drivers. NYPD should end the practice of exempting courtesy card holders from traffic enforcement.
Affordability and safe streets are two sides of the same coin: reducing crashes would not only save lives, but lower car insurance premiums. Legislative changes and targeted enforcement focusing on repeat scofflaws could save lives while making insurance more affordable for law-abiding drivers.
Robbins owns Upper West Strategies, a NYC-based small business that runs internship programs.
