| Issue 319 | May 28, 2001 |
NYC
Comptroller and mayoral candidate Alan Hevesi released a report
last week quantifying what people on NYC streets experience every day —
many city drivers regard stopping on red as optional.Based
on extrapolation from a week of observation, the report concludes that
drivers citywide run more than 1 million lights during a typical 7am-7pm
workday. The report also found that typical violators are not trucks, taxis,
or tourists, but cars and SUVs with NY State plates.Hevesi
used the findings to call for an expanded red-light camera program,
showing that NYC lags other cities in this department.
The number of stoplight scofflaws varied significantly from intersection to intersection and borough to borough. The worst intersection — E 70th St and Madison Ave. in Manhattan — was the site of an average of 56 violations per hour, or nearly one per minute.On average, just one driver per hour in Staten Island blows a light, but in Queens the average is almost 18.The Daily News reported that the five worst Brooklyn intersections were all near schools.
The
report underlines what advocates like Transportation Alternatives and Right-of-Way
have noted for years: disrespect for basic traffic laws is widespread
among NYC drivers and deadly for NYC cyclists and pedestrians (MTR
#286).In
its Killed by Automobile analysis,
Right-of-Way found that vehicles driving through red lights or stop signs
was the third greatest cause of pedestrian and cyclist death in
NYC, resulting in 10% of 1,024 fatalities from 1994 to 1997 (MTR
#212).
Eight years after approval of NYC’s pilot red-light camera program, only a few of the devices are in use — 32 cameras sprinkled among 11,000 traffic lights.In Washington, San Diego and Baltimore, the ratio of red light cameras to controlled intersections ranges from 22 to 33 per 1,000 intersections. Even with 18 additional cameras the city expects to install by the end of next month, NYC's ratio will equal just 4.5. Studies have found red-light cameras to be effective, reducing light running up to 40%.
A
bill introduced by Assemblyman Ivan Lafayette and State Senators Frank
Padavan and Roy Goodman would make the pilot program permanent and double
allowable cameras to 100.It is
supported by NYC DOT and Transportation Alternatives.Hevesi
argues the city must expand its program to at least 250 intersections
to
be on a par with other U.S. programs.
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