NY Lawmakers Introduce Legislation to Protect New Yorkers’ Safety by Allowing Speed Camera 24/7

By Yehudit Garmaise

In 2021, which was the deadliest year on the city’s streets in recent history, traffic accidents killed 273 people in New York City, according to data released by transit non-profit Transportation Alternatives.

“We cannot let another year go by with traffic violence killing a record number of New Yorkers,” said Danny Harris, Transportation Alternatives executive director.

State Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn), who wrote the bill, however, said that the state legislature only agreed to go forward with “the bare minimum” of what he proposed to protect New Yorkers on the city’s streets.

In addition to expanding the speed cameras’ hours from 6 am to 10 pm on weekdays to 24/7, 365 of the year, state Sen. Gounardes also wanted to request the suspension of the car registration of drivers who received excessive speeding tickets.

State Sen. Gounardes also wanted to force the DMV to inform insurance companies of their clients’ repeat recklessness and raise the ticket fines on drivers for multiple offenses.

Mayor Adams, however, was happy that leaders in Albany were willing to help in response to his oft-repeated pleas for 24/7 speed cameras, which he said: “have proven incredibly effective at discouraging repeated speeding behavior.”

While the city is investing $900 million in street safety and redesigning 1,000 intersections across the city, Mayor Adams has long said that the 24/7 use of the speed camera was a major part of protecting New Yorkers from reckless drivers. 

“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,” the mayor said.