Establishes demonstration program to enforce maximum speed limits by means of speed limit photo devices in city of New York

BILL NUMBER:S7854 REVISED 10/29/12

Title of bill

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the public officers law, in relation to establishing in each city with a population of one million or more a demonstration program to enforce maximum speed limits by means of speed limit photo devices; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof

Summary of provisions

This bill amends the Vehicle and Traffic Law and the Public Officers Law to authorize the City of New York to establish a demonstration program imposing liability on the owners of motor vehicles found to be in violation of the maximum speed limit or the maximum school speed limit in the City. Violations would be determined through the use of a speed limit photo device, which combines speed sensing technology that deter- mines the speed of a vehicle and captures/records that data by photo- graphic, micrographic, video tape or other recording system and produces an image of a motor vehicle at the moment that it exceeds the speed limit. The City would be authorized to operate between twenty and forty cameras.

Justification

Speeding motorists are a pervasive problem in some areas of New York City. The New York City Police Department issues more than 70,000 summonses each year for speeding violations. Speeding is often a signif- icant factor in accidents that result in death or injury to motorists and pedestrians, including many children and the elderly. Studies have shown that if a driver strikes a child at 40 miles per hour (MPH), there is a 70% chance the child will be killed; if, however, a driver strikes a child at 30 MPH, there is an 80% chance the child will survive. Reduc- ing the number of speeding violations is, therefore, a life-saving endeavor.

Currently, a police officer must be present at the scene of a speeding violation to observe the violation and to serve the operator of the vehicle with a summons. Police officers are notable to observe every speeding violation. In fact, a motorist can rely on the odds that a speeding violation will not be detected.

The purpose of this legislation is to develop a system that would supplement the police effort by using recent technology to record speed- ing violations on film or another recording device. The program would operate in the same manner as the Red Light Camera Program, which has successfully reduced the incidence of red light violations in the City, ultimately preventing accidents and saving lives.

Technology presently exists that will capture vehicles that exceed the maximum speed limit without the presence of a police officer. This combines speed-sensing technology that determines the speed of a vehicle and captures that data by a photographic, micrographic, videotape or

other recording system and produces an image of the motor vehicle at the moment that it exceeds the speed limit. The image can then be used as evidence in a proceeding to impose liability on the owner of the vehicle for the speeding violation.

This technology is presently in use in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law, with provisions.