As part of the mayor’s Vision Zero plan, New York residents and visitors have seen an increase in the crackdown on speeding this past year. This effort is unlikely to ease up anytime soon as the goal of the program is to completely eradicate pedestrian deaths in the city’s five boroughs by the year 2020 and speeding has been identified as one critical component to those deaths.
One way that the city has increased vigilance against people speeding is through the installation of traffic cameras. So far, there are 20 such cameras in use at various points in New York. Another 120 are expected to be installed in the next 14 months. So far, 2014 has seen the current 20 cameras generate more than 180,000 speeding tickets. Those tickets have brought in more than nine million dollars in revenue.
One particular camera seems to have been very successful in producing income for the city and it is generating some controversy even among local politicians. Views are split between those that believe anyone speeding deserves the ticket they get and those that believe at least this one camera has created an unfair trap for drivers. On one day alone this summer, 1,551 tickets were issued with fines of $50 each. That calculated to $77,550 in revenue from one camera in one day.
Drivers in New York should be aware that they always have the right to fight a speeding ticket. Getting help from a traffic attorney when doing so may be one way to increase the success of a traffic ticket defense.
Source: New York Post, “Speed camera generates $77,550 in just one day,” Gary Buiso, September 28, 2014