Written By: Victoria Nardulli
New Yorkers are not pleased with the new speed cameras planted in construction zones across Long Island.
As a part of National Work Zone Awareness Week, the New York State Department of Transportation has added 30 speed cameras in work zones to prevent accidents involving speeding vehicles and construction workers. There have been past incidents of injuries of workers caused by being struck by speeding drivers on New York State roads, and the hopes are that these speed violation monitors will help keep workers safe. The cameras are attached to government issued SUV’s and are parked along major roadways such as the Long
Island Expressway, the Meadowbrook State Parkway, the Northern State Parkway, Sunrise Highway, and the Southern State Parkway. The cameras are sensitive to speeds as little as 10 miles over the legal speed limit.
Long Island residents who frequent these roads are not pleased with the implementation of these cameras. The sudden act has left people wondering why this and why now? “It’s all about the green.” says Nassau County resident Joe Nardulli. He continues with “I find these cameras very unnecessary. It’s not like workers are getting injured daily or even monthly by speeding cars. It’s not our safety that the government is interested in, it’s our money, and with these cameras they’ll be racking up a whole lot of it.” Another Nassau County resident, Margherita Michelson, chimes in by saying “This state already makes more than enough money off people, especially if you live on Long Island. They’re really finding any way they can to take more even if it's with something as ridiculous and unnecessary as this.”
According to the New York State Department of Transportation, violators will receive warnings in the mail according to the license plate that is captured on camera for the first 30 days of the program. After the first 30 days, each first offense will result in a $50 ticket. The second offense will result in a $75 ticket, and each one after that will result in a $100 ticket. Like every other traffic ticket, violators are susceptible to additional late fees. Tickets will be mailed within 14 days of the incident to New York State registered vehicles, and within 45 days of the incident for vehicles registered to states other than New York.
The full name of the program is called the Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement Program. The program was first thought up after a bill was passed by Governor Kathy Hochul in September of 2021. In that year, there were a total of 378 work zone intrusions, 50 of which involved injuries of either the workers or occupants of the vehicle that was intruding the work zone. The program is set to start in the present year of 2023, and will go on for 5 years, ending in 2028. The overall goal is to make highways safer by encouraging speeding drivers to slow down when approaching a work zone.
Let’s get into how the camera system works. The radar detector system is triggered when a car passes by going over the speed limit. The camera captures 2 pictures of the back of the vehicle. The data collected by the system includes the time and date of the incident, the location of the incident, the speed of the vehicle, the posted speed limit, and the direction the vehicle was traveling. With the collected pictures of the back of the vehicle, the license plate information is used to identify the registered owner of the plate. Once all the data is in the system, a New York State certified technician looks over all the information collected by the system. When they certify that everything is correct, the Notice of Liability is generated and mailed to the registered owner of whatever vehicle was captured by the camera.
As per regulations of the program, there will be signs placed before each designated work zone letting drivers know that they are approaching a speed camera enforced zone. “They claim to have signs leading up to the cameras but I was on my way home from work the other day and there was no sign. I just saw the car with the attached camera parked behind a single work vehicle. The craziest part about what I saw is that there weren't even any workers visible inside or outside the truck! It’s like they just parked it there for an excuse to place one of those stupid cameras.” claims Linda Nardulli, a Long Island resident whose daily drive home includes the Northern State Parkway. “If I'm going to pass by one of those every day on my way home from work, I'm just going to find a new way home.” she continues. When asked if she thinks the implementation of these cameras is going to decrease injury among the workers, Linda replies with “Well I guess time will tell right? Hopefully not enough time to where my family and I along with the rest of Long Island are swimming in speeding tickets. But no, I don't think these cameras are going to stop people in work zones from getting hurt. If State Troopers can’t do it, why would some Jeeps with cameras on them do any different?”
Despite the overwhelming negative response from the public, spokespeople of the program are still speaking in support of the legislation and its goals. The state also claims that 60% of the revenue made from the fines collected will go towards funding work zone safety projects in an effort to to continuously make New York highways safer.