Mayor Eric Adams’ administration took its push for more red-light cameras to the state Capitol on Monday, advocating for legislation that would extend the city’s existing program and expand it to 10% of the city’s intersections.
City Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez traveled to Albany to meet with key lawmakers on the state Legislature’s transportation committees, all in hopes of convincing them to pass a law extending the city’s authority to operate red-light cameras — which is set to expire Dec. 1.
“I’m here in Albany today with one clear message: Red-light cameras save lives,” Rodriguez said at a news conference on the Capitol’s Million Dollar Staircase. “Each year in New York City, there are far too many injuries and fatalities involving red-light running.”
Under state law, localities have to get Albany’s permission to operate automated cameras that ticket drivers for running red lights. No city has done that dance more than New York City.
The state first authorized the use of red-light cameras in New York City in the late 1980s, making it the first municipality in the country with such ability. The so-called pilot program launched at a limited number of intersections in 1994 — and state lawmakers have reauthorized it on a temporary basis eight times since then, most recently in 2019.
Still, after 30 years, the city’s program remains very limited.
Under state law, only 150 of the city’s 13,250 intersections with traffic signals are allowed to have a red-light camera. The Adams administration is pushing two bills to change that.
The first would extend the law authorizing red-light cameras through Dec. 1, 2030 and allow them at 1,325 intersections, or 10% of the city’s total. The second would target repeat offenders, allowing the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend the license of any vehicle that racks up five red-light camera violations within a 12-month period.
State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply