New York City speed cameras are proving to be a lucrative source of income for city coffers. According to Staten Island Live, the expansion of speed cameras around the City is now generating $455 every minute in revenue. While the fines are only $50 per violation, the massive increase in cameras over the summer has already issued more than 500,000 violations to speeding motorists. The tickets are automatically sent to the owner of any vehicle going more than 10 miles per hour above the speed limit.
The speed cameras are clustered around school zones, according to city officials. After a successful trial showed that the cameras changed drivers behavior over time, politicians in Albany expanded the program over the summer. Beginning on July 11, 2019, the number of school zones with cameras increased substantially from 140 to 750. Overall, this amounts to almost 290,000 cameras installed around school zones in the five boroughs. Further, the cameras started issuing tickets all day – from 6 a.m to 10 p.m. on weekdays. Previously, the cameras only operated only during the time period when school began and ended.
Statistics released by the Department of Transportation show that drivers in Brooklyn and Queens are paying most of the tickets issued this year, comprising 37.5 percent and 36.5 of all tickets issued. Staten Island drivers appear to be the most law-abiding when it comes to school zones, with just 6 percent of the overall violations issued. Politicians expect the number of tickets to decrease over time as drivers change their habits around school zones to prevent being ticketed. Given the clearly widespread problem of speeding motorists, the only question appears to be why politicians have not implemented this program sooner.
