If you drive anywhere in New York, you’re probably familiar with the speed cameras that are often mounted in school zones. Run afoul of one and you’ll find a photo of your vehicle moving past the camera and a hefty ticket in your mail.
While state law currently only permits the cameras to operate in school zones, during school hours, that could soon change. If the Mayor of New York City has his way, however, you may soon see them in more school zones than ever before — and fully operational 24 hours of the day, every day of the week.
What’s behind the push to make traffic cameras more common?
Nobody honestly likes traffic cameras that ticket speeders — not even NYC’s mayor. As he said, “No one likes it — but you know what, they change behavior,” he said. “They get people to start slowing down. They get people to obey the law. They work. And we need more, because we need to save lives.”
Saving lives is the main goal. While pedestrian fatalities in New York City are down, traffic fatalities are up — and roughly 75% of those occur in places where there are no speed cameras.
For that reason, NYC’s mayor is asking the state to change the restrictions on traffic cameras so that they can be put to use all of the time — not merely between 6 a.m and 10 p.m on weekdays.
Can you fight a speeding ticket from a traffic camera?
Just like humans, traffic cameras can still make mistakes. You need to check the photo the camera took to see if it really is your car. If the license plate is unclear, you may have great hope of getting a ticket dismissed.
Even if the license plate is visible, you can still fight the ticket. Traffic cameras have to be regularly calibrated and maintained and there could be reasonable doubts about how well the camera and speed monitor was working.
If you need to fight a traffic ticket here in Orange County or elsewhere, talk to an attorney today.