8 million people and only 20 measly speed cameras to catch reckless and dangerous drivers AND they can only be turned on for a few hours a day!! This is a joke! It's like the law was written by a jerk who was worried that he'd get a ticket. A jerk who speeds all the time. A jerk who thinks breaking the law and putting others lives in danger is his right.
"Well OK hurr durr I'll help save the lives but ONLY kids lives and ONLY in a few places and ONLY if the fine is much lower than normal. That sounds fair. "
Yeah. That's right folks, it's limited to a measly $50 fine for going more than TEN MILES over the speed limit next to a school during the hours when kid are walking to school. If you do it at any other time it's fine.
It's not just New York City's schools that have a problem with speeding drivers, though. There are many streets where it's dangerous to cross because the drivers treat a residential road like a highway. Speeding studies have found that New York City drivers break speed limits frequently and the NYPD spends very little effort enforcing traffic laws.
Now, if you have a street where everyone is going much faster than the speed limit there are only two sane options: either raise the limit (which makes no sense in a place where more people walk than drive) or redesign the road to make speeding less sensible, bigger pedestrian islands, bike lanes, and other forms of traffic calming...then crack down on anyone who still breaks the law.
Speed cameras are the great equalizers. My brother has been pulled over many many times for "driving while black" but speed cameras don't see color they just see speed. That's another reason why I like them. Everyone is treated the same. They are much more fair and much less expensive than police officers.
Now, it is possible for cities (usually cash-strapped small towns) to abuse these cameras by having poorly timed lights. (for red light cameras, not speed cameras) And this has made some people hate the cameras-- it even explains all of the stupid limitations on this law. But the notion that enforcing speed limits is meant to make money is not correct most of the time. In the case of NYC this is really about making the streets safer. The goal is not to give out lots of tickets it's to change the way people drive.
I'll admit this new bill is better than nothing and gives us room to build but I'm just so upset and how little the legislators care about having safe streets. But, it's clear they care a lot about drivers and how "sad" getting tickets makes them.
Which schools will be lucky enough to get the cameras? Will it be your local school? I'm going to try and get one in our neighborhood. But it will be hard, the South Bronx always seems to get improvements like this last.
20 cameras is not enough for New York City. I can think of 20 places where they are needed in my own neighborhood.
http://www.streetsblog.org/...