OPINION: State Senate leaves speed camera issue hanging

July 17, 2018 By Jack Ryan For Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Photo courtesy of Cagle Cartoons

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What were they thinking?

How could the members of the New York State Senate adjourn for a not-that-well-deserved vacation without taking care of a piece of business that could have direct impact on the safety of the city’s school children?

The senators failed to act on legislation already passed by the state Assembly that would allow the city to continue using speed cameras in school zones until 2022. If the Senate does not act, the authorization first approved in 2013 will expire in less than two weeks on July 25.

The current bill would increase the number of cameras from 140 to 290 and has 33 sponsors in the state Senate. That’s impressive but apparently not enough to get the other senators to vote before they head to the beach.

We understand that reconvening would be, to say the least, inconvenient. But the senators have only themselves and their leadership to blame. They had sufficient time to review and act on this legislation. Advocates made each senator aware of just how important they believe the cameras are.

And we are guessing the opposition made its case. Or did they just say, “Hurry up and leave town.”

Although the cameras enjoy broad public approval — 75 percent of New Yorkers are said to support expanding the program according to one poll — we understand that getting a red light or speeding notice in the mail is a pain the driver’s seat.

And it’s natural to feel that this is just another way for the city to take money out of your pocket. But there is credible evidence that this program makes the walk to school safer. According to The New York Times, since the city began using the cameras to enforce speed limits in school zones, “fatalities and serious injuries in those areas are down by 21 percent.”

Transportation safety advocates say incidents of speeding have decreased by 63 percent in areas where the speed cameras are in operation.

In addition, records show that once a car is issued a school zone speeding ticket, it seldom is issued a second. The message gets through to drivers/owners. Once they get a notice, drivers take the school speed limits more seriously. They slow down.

We’re guessing that no one knows how annoying the speed cameras can be more than state Sen. Marty Golden (R-Bay Ridge-Southwest Brooklyn). According to data reported by StreetsBlog, a Cadillac registered to Golden has been issued 10 speeding tickets since 2015 because someone driving his car was speeding in a school zone. Note that the ticket is issued to the owner of car, not the driver.

Perhaps that’s why Golden waffled at first on extending the program. But last week, one of the most influential members of the Senate, called on majority leader John Flanagan to reconvene the Senate and pass this legislation.

His spokesman said, “Sen. Golden believes that anything short of a vote by the Senate before July 25, to support the continuation and expansion of the speed cameras throughout New York City would be an unacceptable failure.”

Last week Queens residents rallied at the corner of Junction and Northern boulevards to demand that senators support a bill introduced by State Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) that would renew and expand the school speed zones.

“The school zone speed camera program saved countless of lives, so there is no logical reason to let it

expire,” Peralta said. “We cannot play politics with schoolchildren and New Yorker’ lives. If the Republicans let this initiative expire, kids in summer school will travel to and from school on more dangerous streets,” he said.

Advocates of the speed cameras are also holding the feet of state Sens. Simcha Felder (D-Borough Park-Midwood) and Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) to the fire on this issue.

This is not the first time that the state legislature has used a kind of legislative pocket veto to avoid voting up or down on a controversial issue. By not bringing the cameras up for a vote, the senate leadership avoided forcing members to take a stand, especially those who could care less about what happens in New York City.

This legislative failure must be addressed before it is repeated. Next year the law permitting red-light cameras will also expire, and the year after that, bus lane cameras.

Both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio support the speed cameras.

—Jack Ryan, editorial page editor