BILL NUMBER: S8607A
SPONSOR: HINCHEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the public officers law,
in relation to establishing a school speed zone camera demonstration
program in the city of Kingston; and providing for the repeal of such
provisions upon expiration thereof
 
PURPOSE:
To authorize the City of Kingston to install and operate speed cameras
in up to three school speed zones.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one authorizes the City of Kingston to impose monetary liability
on the owner of a vehicle using a speed violation monitoring system for
not obeying the posted speed limit in a school zone. The city is author-
ized to operate speed cameras in up to three school speed zones and may
use them on a school day, during, one hour preceding, and one hour
following school hours, and during, thirty minutes before and thirty
minutes after a period of student activities. Speed data, crash history
and roadway geometry must all be considered by the city when determining
where to install and operate the devices. This section also sets the
conditions that a speed violation monitoring system must satisfy each
day before it is used and annual calibration requirements. Finally,
section one requires that the City of Kingston prepare a yearly report
for the legislature and the executive on the pilot program for the dura-
tion of the program.
Section two allows the photographs, microphotographs, videotape or other
recorded images captured by the speed violation monitoring system
authorized by this section to be exempt from Freedom of Information Law
requests.
Section three required that the purchase or lease of equipment by the
City of Kingston to carry out this program must be subject to the
bidding requirements of section 103 of the general municipal law.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Speeding endangers every community in New York. According to the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, speeding drivers are at
a higher risk for loss of control of their vehicle, reduce the effec-
tiveness of occupant protection equipment, require an increased stopping
distance after the driver perceives a danger, and increase the likeli-
hood of a crash being severe. Consequently, driving above the posted
speed limit is a factor in 29% of traffic related fatalities nationwide.
This danger is magnified in school zones where large numbers of students
are arriving by bus or on foot and are often outside during the school
day.
To mitigate this danger, New York City implemented the State's first
speed camera pilot program. The program has been an overwhelming
success. On average, speeding decreased 73% in school zones that had
speed cameras added and some areas saw reductions of 90%. Cameras have
also proven to be effective at preventing repeat offenses: 46% of driv-
ers who received a ticket from these cameras did not receive a second
and an additional 19% of drivers did not receive more than two between
2019 and 2021.
New York City's program has demonstrated that speed camera programs make
streets safer. The City of Kingston has requested to enact one of these
programs to help make their school zones safer for students and the
surrounding communities. This legislation would authorize the city to
implement a speed camera program until 2029 to test the efficacy within
the city's school zones.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.
 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law and shall expire and be deemed repealed December 31, 2029.

Statutes affected:
S8607: 87 public officers law, 87(2) public officers law
S8607A: 87 public officers law, 87(2) public officers law