As New York City schools welcome back students, city officials are working to ensure traffic safety in school zones.
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday announced that NYPD will expand traffic enforcement in school zones, as part of the city’s Visio Zero initiative.
“With schools reopening, we’re doubling down on our effort to protect the most vulnerable among us: our kids,” de Blasio said. “With more officers patrolling around schools and hundreds of new speed cameras coming on line in the months ahead, reckless drivers will hear one thing loud and clear: slow down or pay the price.”
This month, additional officers will be deployed to enforce speeding violations, failure to yield to pedestrians, illegal cell phone use, and more. Highway officers will conduct enforcement of speed violations.
Intersections and corridors with a lot of pedestrian or cyclist injuries will also be a focus for officials.
Officials will also be posting on message boards at strategic locations, to remind drivers to follow the traffic laws.
NYPD will focus on traffic enforcement in areas with children frequently traveling to and from school. Officers will focus on areas without speed cameras. Although some areas do not have speed cameras, the department of transportation promises to add 40 per month through 2019 and by 2020, they are seeking to add 60 per month bringing the total to law’s maximum.
The city’s speed camera law took effect in July 2019, resulted in over 198,000 violations. Additionally, the number of speed cameras increased from 240 to 360 cameras.
Besides focusing on speed cameras and cars, motorcycle safety will also be something prioritized. Another focus with this initiative is citywide enforcement against DWI offenses.
Thomas Chan, the NYPD’s Chief of Transportation reiterated de Blasio’s message, warning wreckless drivers that cops will take the steps necessary to protect students as they return to school, “and to ensure that drivers understand that driving dangerously has serious consequences.”
