New York City is pursuing a plan to expand the installation of traffic signal violation cameras by nine times the current size.
New York City Transportation Director Idanis Rodriguez said on the 22nd, “The number of traffic fatalities in New York City last year due to traffic signal violations was 29, the highest since related statistics began to be compiled,” and “All intersections where 29 deaths occurred have cameras.” It was an area where was not installed. “In response to this, we will pursue measures to expand camera installation,” he said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced plans to promote a plan to increase the number of traffic signal violation cameras across New York City, which is currently limited to 150 by New York State law, to 1,325 by 2030 by pushing for a bill in the state legislature.
Regarding the related bill, State Senator Andrew Gonades and State Representative Jeffrey Dinowitz are expected to sponsor the bill in the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively. Currently, there are 13,700 traffic lights installed at intersections across New York City, and only 150 traffic lights, or 1% of all traffic lights, have red light violation cameras. If camera installation is expanded to 1,325, it will amount to about 10% of all traffic lights.
New York State Senator Michael Gianaris supported the policy, saying, “Just as an antidote to a fatal disease is not prescribed to only 1% of patients, the expansion of camera installations to prevent traffic accidents at intersections must be done.” Meanwhile, according to New York City statistics, 94% of all vehicles caught by traffic light cameras last year had fewer than two violations, and 0.5% of vehicles had five or more violations.
Additionally, the incidence of injuries due to ‘T-Bone’ crashes, which refers to side collisions that occur at intersections, decreased by 13% after installing cameras compared to before installation.