Maspeth May Be Chosen For Pilot Camera Pgm.
Four Maspeth schools are located close to streets where speeding vehicles are a constant problem, according to a report released on Monday, Mar. 18, by the city Department of Transportation (DOT) in support of an effort by state lawmakers to launch a speed camera enforcement program in the five boroughs.
The four institutions-Maspeth High School at the corner of 57th Avenue and 74th Street; P.S. 58, at the corner of Grand and 57th avenues; I.S. 73, at the corner of 54th Avenue and 71st Street; and P.S. 290, temporarily housed at I.S. 73-were among 100 “priority schools” across the city identified by the DOT as being located within a quarter-mile of a roadway where at least 75 percent of drivers were found to exceed the speed limit in recent studies.
In the case of all four Maspeth schools, the DOT determined that they were each located close to streets where the speed limit was ignored by drivers as much as 98 percent of the time.
The “priority schools” listed by the DOT would be eyed as potential locations for the installation of speed enforcement cameras in a pilot program currently under consideration by the state government.
Similar to the red light cameras at intersections across the city-which take images of vehicles that pass through red lights-the speed cameras would not photograph the driver nor widely distribute the license plate information.
If enacted, the speed cameras will record vehicles which are found to travel in excessive speeds. The motorist is then subject to a minimum fine of $25 sent by mail; drivers can be fined $50 for going between 10 and 30 mph above the posted limit and $100 for going more than 30 mph above the speed limit.
The legislation being considered by the state would authorize the city to install and operate up to 40 speed cameras at locations across the city deemed to be “at risk” of speeding problems and accidents. If approved, the city would be allowed to use the cameras for up to five years in order accurately assess its effectiveness.
The DOT noted in its press release that it has enacted a host of measures to reduce traffic deaths and fatalities over the last 11 years, including advertising and education programs, pedestrian countdown clocks and even redesigning certain speed-prone roadways. Allowing the use of speed cameras, it claimed, would help save more lives and reduce accidents even further.
“One thousand New Yorkers are alive today who would not be if we simply sustained the city’s fatality rate just one decade ago,” said DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan in a statement on Monday. “Still, we know we have to do more. The streets around our city’s schools are the real speed traps, and we can’t play it safe when it comes to doing everything we can to protect New Yorkers on our streets-and especially seniors and school kids.”
“Just as red light cameras reduced infractions at intersections where they were installed, we anticipate that speed cameras will result in greater compliance with posted speed limits,” added Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
“The streets around our schools should be safe, but we all have to work together to make it happen,” said Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott .
The City Council was scheduled to vote yesterday, Wednesday, Mar. 20, on a resolution calling for the state legislature to approve the speed camera program. The resolution was introduced by City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, who previously worked to get speed humps installed on his block following the death of a nine-year-old girl run down by a speeding vehicle 11 years ago.
“If we can save the life of just one child by reducing the speed of vehicles in our city, this pilot program will have served its purpose,” Van Bramer said in a press release from the City Council last Tuesday, Mar. 12. “We are obligated to protect the lives of our city residents, and introducing a speed camera pilot program in New York city will help reduce excessive speeding in areas that have been plagued by drag racing, excessive vehicular crashes and pedestrian collisions.”
