There is something fascist and dehumanizing about turning every aspect of law enforcement over to the machines. When I was a young prosecutor in Nassau County 34 years ago, the Hon. Denis Dillon said, “Discretion begins with the cop on the street.” Civility and a social lifestyle depends on human interaction and judgment. Sometimes people abuse their discretion, but I’d take that chance rather than subject my very human, good intentioned, and fallible self over to the harsh judgment of machines. Skynet, anybody?
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Speed cameras fulfill our most anti-democratic impulses. They’re just revenue generators. Whereas you might’ve gotten a fair-minded cop who would’ve let you off with a warning, you’ll be getting tickets for barely exceeding the speed limit. If you challenge it, they’ll show you the photo of your plate in court and you might get the fine reduced just for showing up. Good luck if you’re undocumented. I lived in DC for a year. They’re everywhere. I’m no lead foot and I racked up a thousand dollars in fines. The speed limits are artificially low; everyone crawls. In the city that never sleeps and lives off adrenaline, these cameras are going to drive New Yorkers nuts.
1
There is a street nearby that was modified to make it better for bike riders. It is two lanes for cars, one in each direction, with two bike paths, one on either side of the car lane, and then car parking against the curb. I saw a bicycle zooming along going the wrong way as if entitled. There should be a way to ticket for this.
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"Do cameras prevent speeding and crashes?
Supporters say yes"
Important note: Statistics say yes.
1
Uhhh money. This is a form of policing for profit. Make every instance of non compliance a $60 fine (tax) for the city.
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While the concept can be applauded, the reality of the situation diminishes its' effectiveness. Not only do people have reflective brackets, others obscure their plates with silver paint. This not only immunizes them from speed cameras, but also gets them over bridges and through tunnels toll free. Plus, anyone using Google Maps or Waze will hear "Speed camera ahead", causing them to briefly slow down and resume back to speeding once out of range.
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@Bob M
1. Reflective brackets/paint are useless against modern speed cameras. they not only take multiple high resolution photos from a distance, but also video and have special software. If you can see the plate with your eyes, it will be clearer on camera.
2. Mobile cameras are part of the package. They are places on the same corridors which speed is a problem as a stationary camera.
@Nick Thanks for the info, I only hope they tack on an additional fine for the attempt to obscure the plate. It disgusts me seeing these people driving around sending the message "you pay the toll, not me". Them and the folks in the Mercedes with Florida plates.
The city better get this money while it can. Self driving cars won't get ticketed.
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@aimlowjoe
Self driving cars in NYC for all vehicles are decades away.
Today's self driving vehicles still have great difficulty with environments like NYC and poor weather.
Speed regulators for all vehicles sold which access public roads will probably come sooner. And large swaths of NYC will likely have car bans in the next 20-30 years.
just as in Providence, those who want to speed without being caught complain this a money grab, but what's wrong with that? Cities need revenue and getting some from those entitled drivers who want to endanger other road users seems quite reasonable. This is especially true as (with air bags, sensors, larger sizes) vehicles may be safer for those inside the vehicle which encourages drivers to speed, but those outside who are walking, biking, in wheelchairs, or are even highway workers, are not. And the severity of injuries for those outside the vehicles increases quickly with speed. Motorists: slow down and stop bellyaching!
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NYC is being handed over on a silver platter to the entitled ones on their bikes and e-bikes and e-scooters. Pedestrians are being condemned to live in fear. This is just wrong, wrong, wrong - but De Blasio doesn't care about pedestrians.
NYC is supposed to be a city for WALKING, but walking is now a dangerous activity, which is a shame.
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@L
Ugh, pedestrians are being killed or seriously injured en mass by drivers, not bicyclists.
1
For the people upset about this cramping their driving styles, you are making a really good point in support of the cameras. If you don't want to get a ticket, don't speed. Duh!
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This is wonderful. Every day on the street, every minute practically, I see drivers running red lights, speeding, endangering pedestrians. There has been no way to stop them, and for years I have asked for cameras in my neighborhood. This is a most welcome development.
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This is a money grab, plain and simple. If the city really cared about pedestrian death they would prosecute and take away the license of the offender, preventing them from driving like they're in a video game and killing people. This is just taking money from them and allowing them to continue to drive and killing pedestrians.
2
Speed cameras are yet another reason why I won't ever vote for a Democrat.
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Like just about everything else in this city, these speed cameras will no doubt be a money generating venture -- but if it can help save lives, what's not to like about it?
Anyway, there's too many vehicles on the streets and no one wants to slow down...Especially the cyclists!
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In 80s I was Operations Manager for the computers that controlled NYC Trraffic Lights on major street arteries in the outer boroughs and in Manhattan Riverside Drive. Part of my job was to give tours to foreign traffic engineers and was given some traffic engineering knowledge for those tours. One Traffic engineering rule was if you know the average speed of of a street was 20MPH you time the lights for 40MPH, even though the maximum speed in NYC was 30 o 35 MPH. I read a few years ago that the city lowered the speeds on major street arteries and reprogrammed the signals. I wonder how this affected travel time.
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@Allen: It's all part of how NYC is working hard to CREATE congestion! Then they can make ever more money by charging us all for the congestion THEY created. It's diabolical, if you ask me.
PS: If they really want to make bank, they should put license plates on bicycles.
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@Allen
Effects on travel time in NYC have been miniscule due to light retiming. As a "traffic engineer" you should be aware this information is easily accessible through the NYC DOT.
Average speed is impacted by more than signal timing due to vehicular density and obstacles such as double parked vehicles.
And no, traffic controls which aim to regulate traffic at a certain speed are not programmed to exceed it. Also, NYC is now focused on moving people, not vehicles most efficiently at a speed which reduces the likelihood of death or serious injury.
I'd like noise meters too so that the guys who blast their way through our streets, rattling windows and setting off car alarms, can also be fined.
As always, cameras and meters are not judgmental; they record only the facts. Anyone who doesn't want to incur a fine needs only to slow down and tone it down.
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This will make the city a lot more money...period. Everything else is window dressing. Follow the money.
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No. Follow the ambulance with the family whose car was smashed by a red light runner. It's about lives. Which are more important than money.
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@C3PO: Follow the money indeed! What's the name of the company supplying all these cameras, and how did they get the job? I'm just wondering whose pocket got lined on this - b/c I'm convinced that somebody's pocket did get lined.
It's amazing how fast & how stealthily NYC can implement these major "big brother" surveillance operations.
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@John Olson These are speed cameras not red light cameras.
2
I want those speed cameras trained on bicycles as well as cars. The bike-mounted scofflaws are a bigger threat than the cars--at least the cars do occasionally stop at a light.
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@Constance except speed cameras would likely catch zero cyclists going above the 25 mph city speed limit and none 10+ mph above. Yes, cyclists should be cautious of pedestrians and obey red lights (should be rolling stop for bikes) but they kill less than one person per year in NYC vs. hundreds by motor vehicles.
On another note, why aren't these cameras turned on during the weekends when people are out and about walking and biking?
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@bittinho: I'd like bike riders filmed and FINED when they are using their phones while riding (which I see all the time). Bike riders are a vastly under-rated hazard to every pedestrian in NYC.
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@Constance
"The bike-mounted scofflaws are a bigger threat than the cars"
No, they are not.
1
As far as I'm concerned, running a red light or blasting through a residential area or school zone is flat-out attempted murder. Period. There is no excuse. The end.
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Love that 1976 photo from The Archives, not so much for the winged evangelist, but for the memory of Good Humor trucks and belt coin changers! And funny, here in NYC, we always said "ice cream pops", not "ice cream bars", unless of course we were talking about Klondike.
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@Butterfield8
I can barely remember a time before frozen yogurt, but Good Humor's Toasted Almond bar and Breyer's Butter Almond were my favorites. That was pre-Ben & Jerry's, pre-Grom.
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@Lifelong Reader
I liked the good humor strawberry shortcake pops. It was like having cake wrapped around the ice cream. My mouth is watering thinking of it!
However one of my strange brothers always preferred an ice pop, the one that was blue and red, with the two stick handles so you could break the pop in half and be holding two pops separately. Every once in a while his pop would not break cleanly down the middle, and he would be left with three-quarters or more of it on one stick, and just a smidgen on the other. No sympathy from me---I'd roar with laughter over his misfortune.
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@Billy from Brooklyn, regarding "holding two pops separately"
This reminds me so much of so many people on lines in Vegas to get into shows holding two big drinks, or even wearing two drinks around their necks. As Harvey Fierstein said in an interview about this phenomenon he saw when he played there, "I mean it's a 90-minute show, how can you make it through with only one drink?"
But you're right - I did see that a lot in my Brooklyn yute; these days, it probably wouldn't happen, because how would we check our cell phones?
1
Why aren't the speed cameras running 24 hours a day? Too little speeding activity between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.? Too much footage to process?
The cyclist deaths are tragic, but the City still needs to crack down on reckless bicycle riders as well as vehicular drivers. I'm more afraid of the cyclists.
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@Lifelong Reader
Me too! And now the city will allow e bikes and e scooters in the outer boroughs?? Alarming!
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@Lifelong Reader
The speed cameras are not running 24/7 because the state politicians give and take. They won't give that much home rule without a favor it return. Speeding is definitely even worse as a percentage of drivers off peak. You have more serious collisions after hours as a percentage of the total.
And if you are more afraid of a bicycle collision than one with an automobile, your priorities are a mess.