NYC red light cameras: Why some lawmakers are pushing for more
NEW YORK CITY - More red light cameras could be coming to the five boroughs of New York City if a group of state lawmakers get their way.
Critics are calling it just a money grab, but the city says the cameras are helping to reduce the number of drivers who are blowing through red lights.
"I have a friend, a colleague, who some years ago lost her son because a taxi ran over her son," one Upper West Side resident told FOX 5 NY.
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It's those such tragedies that have garnered support for red light cameras in the city.
"In Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, where it’s been a very dangerous area and now with the red light cameras, people abide by the speed limit," one New Yorker said.
The city says the cameras are helping to reduce the number of drivers who are blowing through red lights.
Brooklyn State Sen. Andrew Gounardes is sponsoring a bill in Albany that would allow the city to increase the number of red light cameras. Currently, there are 150 intersections in the five boroughs that have them.
"There's 13,500 intersections and 150 cameras," Gounardes said. "So, it's like literally 1%, nowhere near adequate."
The bill would allow the city to increase the number of red light cameras.
According to the New York City Transportation Department, the red light cameras are deterring drivers from running red lights. The number of violations issued "has declined by over 77% since the program began in 1994. The program should be expanded so more of the city can benefit from its life-saving effects."
Elizabeth Adams is with Transportation Alternatives, which advocates for safer streets. She says red light cameras are proven to work.
"We shouldn't be stalling or holding back on methods that keep New Yorkers safe," Adams said.
But State Sen. Simcha Felder, of Borough Park, Brooklyn, says it is just a cash cow.
"First they said cameras in front of schools," Felder said. "Then they said, all the blocks around schools. Then cameras were everywhere and still not having the promised result. Cops on the streets is what works."