An amended bill approved by lawmakers in Albany will allow for speed cameras to be be turned on 24/7 in New York City

In an effort to reduce an increase in fatal car accidents in New York City, legislators in Albany have signed a deal to renew the existing cameras program and to have them running 24/7 instead of the current schedule of 6:00 am to 10:00 pm.

Safety advocates were pleased that the deal was signed and the new amended bill was on its way to be delivered to Governor Hochul and signed.  The signature of the bill allows the speed cameras program to be extended for 3 years. However the deal is a watered down version of the bill proposed by Senator Andrew Gournades (picture) who originally included several other propositions such as:

• Requiring the DMV to notify car insurance companies about any car accumulating five or more speed camera tickets
• Suspending car registration for 90 days for any car getting 6 speed camera tickets or more in a period of two years
• Increasing fines after a driver gets caught speeding by the cameras more than 5 times in two years

Mayor Adams, who went to Albany on Tuesday to help push for the bill, previously tried to move the control of the speed cameras program from Albany to New York City but did not succeed. He was however satisfied that the deal passed yesterday and said “Make no mistake about it, this is a major victory for New Yorkers that will save lives and help stem the tide of traffic violence that has taken too many,”

Since they have been installed in the five boroughs, speed cameras contributed to a decrease of 72% of speeding. Having them turned on for 24/7 should lead to a significant decline in car accident fatalities in the city.  Recent studies found that speeding occurs more commonly at night and that 59% of crash fatalities in New York City take place when the speed cameras are shut down.

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