Plainview and Old Bethpage residents who opposed school zone speed cameras are doing victory laps after Nassau County legislators voted unanimously on Dec. 15 to put the brakes on the controversial program.
A flawed program from the beginning, the speed zone cameras were voted for by representatives from both parties from the state and the county. Essentially presented as a school safety issue, residents were supposed to be warned of proper signage and flashing beacon lights, as well as prior warnings that the program was being initiated.
“We were assured by the administration that all of these measures would be put in place, but, unfortunately, this was not the case,” said Nassau County Legislator Judy Jacobs. “First of all, the initial roll out of the program was done during the summer when most people had no idea that certain schools had summer programs. Add to the above the fact that most municipalities give out ‘warning’ tickets, first, to make people aware that the implementation with fines will follow,” continued Jacobs of the situation, which led the county executive to grant amnesty to all August tickets issued.
The cameras, which were introduced this past August, issue an automatic $80 traffic ticket (plus additional fees) to any vehicle exceeding the posted limit within a 10 mph buffer, during school hours. According to officials, more than 400,000 tickets were issued since September, garnering $32 million in revenue for the county. Of the tickets issued, 60 percent were for speeds 1 to 5 mph over the violation threshold, while 27 percent were issued from 7 to 9 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m., when students were most likely to be walking to or from school—both points leading residents to believe the cameras were strictly for the cash.
When the program was rolled out again in September, it was done exactly the same way; the only difference being that the schools were now open. Jacobs also stated that another flaw in the program were the locations chosen.
“Due to the lack of transparency—with no input from the school districts or their respective legislators—I immediately called for a suspension of the program and submitted corresponding legislation,” said Jacobs. “That plea was disregarded and I repeated my call for suspending the program for the next two months, to no avail.”
With no other recourse left, Democrats filed a bill, which called for a total repeal on Dec. 3. and was quickly followed by an announcement by Suffolk that they would be canceling plans to initiate the program.
“While we were waiting for the official report from the Office of Legislative Budget Review, the Republicans joined with us and filed their bill also demanding repeal,” said Jacobs of the unanimous vote to terminate the program.
Jacobs realizes that residents were unfairly surrounded by cameras. However, of the 400,000 tickets given county-wide, approximately 90,000, were in the 16th Legislative District, Jacobs’ own.
“My final thought on the program is that it was seriously flawed, however, speeding is a serious problem and we must all be aware of the need to respect a school zone and to alter our driving as responsible residents. Please drive carefully.”
Presiding officer of the legislature, Norma L. Gonsalves also spoke out about the repeal.
“Though well-intentioned, the School Safety Zone Speed Camera Program has been repealed. Safety remains a high priority, but cameras are not the best tool to accomplish this goal,” she said. “We will instead move forward with the installation of flashing lights at certain school zones as well as increased police patrolling at schools county-wide.”
John Marks, executive director of the Nassau County Traffic & Parking Violations Agency, had a different take on the repeal.
“We were enforcing what the law called for. Then the legislature decided to repeal it. It is what it is,” said Marks, who personally thought it was a good program, since speeding in school zones is at epidemic proportions. “This program, like it or not, helped people slow down. I hope, now that [the program] is no more, people don’t start to think the mechanical police officer isn’t watching so they can go back to old habits.”
Marks served six years as a Nassau County District Court judge and seven years as a Nassau County Family Court judge. At the hearing to repeal the speed cameras, Marks said that many people would have rather seen the program rolled out differently, rather than scraped altogether.
“The legislature made the best possible decision with the information they had. I’ve been a judge for a long time and I know that every decision I made did not turn out the way I envisioned it but it was made based on the best available information at that time,” he said. “The legislature unanimously decided in favor of the speed cameras, and the governor signed the bill and it was approved by the legislature. It was never for anything other than child safety. It was never a cash grab.”
But according to Robert Sinclair Jr., manager of media relations for AAA New York, the vote to remove the cameras is a “tacit admission that the program was a money-grab from the start.”
“Few things are more important than school zone safety, and those who drive recklessly deserve a penalty, but Nassau penalized safe drivers to fill budget gaps,” he said. “When there is no apparent connection between enforcement and traffic safety, the public loses trust in its government.”
Marks continued to say that upon the legislature realizing the number of speeding violations and the public outcry, they suddenly backpedaled and decided against it. He also stated that Nassau did not design the school zones or put the school zone speed limits in place, something that should be done by the state, town, village or city in which the school is located.
