File #: Res 1356-2008    Version: * Name: Amend section 1111-a of the State Vehicle and Traffic Law, to allow for NYC to install and operate more red-light cameras at various intersections.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Transportation
On agenda: 4/16/2008
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature and the Governor to sign legislation that will amend section 1111-a of the State Vehicle and Traffic Law, to allow for the city of New York to install and operate more red-light cameras at various intersections.
Sponsors: David I. Weprin, Tony Avella, Gale A. Brewer, Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Lewis A. Fidler, Robert Jackson, Letitia James, G. Oliver Koppell, Michael C. Nelson, Alan J. Gerson
Council Member Sponsors: 10

Res. No. 1356

 

Resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature and the Governor to sign legislation that will amend section 1111-a of the State Vehicle and Traffic Law, to allow for the city of New York to install and operate more red-light cameras at various intersections.

 

By Council Members Weprin, Brewer, Comrie, Fidler, Jackson, James, Koppell, Nelson and Gerson

 

                     Whereas, Red light running is one of the major causes of crashes, deaths, and injuries at signalized intersections; and

                     Whereas, In 2005 nearly 9,200 Americans were killed and approximately one million people were injured in intersection-related crashes in the United States; and

                     Whereas, Of these, 805 fatalities occurred in crashes caused by running a red light, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ; and

                     Whereas, The monetary impact of crashes to our society is approximately $14 billion annually, according to the Federal Highway Administration; and

                     Whereas, The Red Light Camera Program uses technology to automatically

take high-resolution photographs of vehicles that go through red lights, and summonses are issued to the owners of the offenders; and

                     Whereas, Studies have shown a 40 percent decrease in the total number of incidents of motorists going through red lights at the locations where cameras have been installed; and

Whereas, Cameras are used for law enforcement throughout the United States including Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC, plus many smaller communities; and

Whereas, In 1988, the New York State Legislature enacted legislation that allowed cities with populations of one million or more to install traffic-control photo violation-monitoring devices to record vehicles going through red light signals at intersection; and

                     Whereas, In April 1998, legislation was enacted that authorized the Department of Transportation (DOT) to install cameras at a total of 50 locations throughout New York City and in June 2006, legislation was enacted authorizing an additional 50 cameras, bringing the total number of red-light cameras in New York City to 100; and

                     Whereas, Since its inception in December 1993, DOT has spent roughly $85 million on the Red Light Camera Program and collected $130 million from issuing more than 3 million violations, through 2006; and

Whereas, The Red Light Camera Program has been viewed as very successful in deterring people from running red lights and contributing to the overall improvement in pedestrian and traffic safety in New York City; now, therefore, be it

                     Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York State Legislature and the Governor to sign legislation that will amend Section 1111-a of the State Vehicle and Traffic Law, to allow for the city of New York to install and operate more red-light cameras at various intersections.

 

JM

LS# 4337

April 8, 2008