Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Long Island

Long Island Pols Backtrack on Speed Cams, Play Politics With People’s Lives

With a presumed re-election bid coming in 2015, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has determined his political career is more important than people's safety.

Suffolk County Exec Steve Bellone: pandering to motorists who insist on putting children's lives at risk. Photo: ##https://twitter.com/stevebellone##@StreveBellone##
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone: pandering to motorists who insist on putting children's lives at risk. Photo: ##https://twitter.com/stevebellone##@StreveBellone##
Suffolk County Exec Steve Bellone: pandering to motorists who insist on putting children's lives at risk. Photo: ##https://twitter.com/stevebellone##@StreveBellone##

Bowing to people who believe they should be able to do whatever they want behind the wheel, Bellone has joined other Suffolk and Nassau lawmakers in opposing school zone speed cameras, and says he will kill the Suffolk program ahead of a planned 2015 rollout.

County legislators, the majority of them Republican, will hold a hearing next week on a measure to repeal the Nassau program. However, Republican Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, who holds veto power, has spoken in favor of the cameras.

Newsday notes that the cameras passed earlier this year with near-unanimous support among Suffolk lawmakers, including Bellone, a Democrat who lobbied Albany for authorization. "Speed cameras are used in cities across the nation and have proved effective in reducing traffic accidents and saving lives," he said at the time.

Reversing himself, Bellone tweeted Monday that his decision "comes after a year of research [and] analysis of programs throughout the nation." But research overwhelmingly finds that speed cameras improve street safety. A 2010 review of dozens of studies concluded that speed cameras typically reduce fatality rates by 30 to 40 percent. Mangano says tickets issued by cameras declined 70 percent from September to November, indicating that the Nassau program is succeeding in slowing motorists near schools.

In large part because they are getting the job done, Long Island speed cameras have become a political football. After Nassau drivers griped about the $80 tickets, Democratic and Republican legislators in both counties backtracked, and are now racing to claim credit for spiking their respective programs. While Mangano, whose current term runs through 2017, acknowledged the cameras are working, last week he cut their hours of operation from 11 hours a day to just four.

Bellone's move, meanwhile, is preemptive. Suffolk wasn't scheduled to start using cameras until next fall, giving the county time to prepare in a way that Nassau didn't, says Veronica Vanterpool, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

In New York City, Vanterpool points out, the Department of Transportation collected data on the prevalence of speeding near schools well in advance of camera implementation. The city held press conferences and conducted other public outreach explaining why cameras were necessary. In addition to driver education, Vanterpool says Suffolk could allocate a portion of revenues to safety improvements around schools. "If you tie it to that, people think it's less of a money grab."

Nassau County drivers, who are only ticketed when speeding by 11 or more miles per hour in school zones, complained that cameras were installed without warning signs or flashing lights. Nassau Democrat Judy Jacobs told Newsday the "whole program has been unfair." Nassau would owe $3 million in vendor termination fees if electeds end the speed camera program.

"This is a mechanism to enforce the law," says Vanterpool. "People know you shouldn't be going 50 miles per hour in a school zone. They're mad that they got caught."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

West Side Pols Call on Trump Administration to Stop Illegally Blocking 10th Ave. Bike Lane

The DEA blockade of the 10th Avenue bike lane continues, and local politicians are demanding the federal agency stop denying cyclists safety.

October 1, 2025

When the DOT Takes Your Bike: A Cyclist’s Guide to Getting It Back 

A bike commuter's frustrating journey through New York's bureaucratic maze reveals a hidden problem affecting cyclists citywide. 

October 1, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: This is Your DOT on Drugs Edition

Yes, that's our editor consuming drugs in front of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration office on 10th Avenue to protest the agency's seizure of the bike lane. Plus other news.

October 1, 2025

BIG ZERO: Trump Stiffs MTA in ‘Sanctuary City’ Tantrum

The federal government is denying the MTA tens of millions of dollars in public safety funding over of New York's immigration policies.

September 30, 2025

Gale’s A-Blowin’: Brewer Abandons Daylighting Bill After Push By Parking-First DOT

DOT's anti-daylighting "scare tactics" have peeled off Council Member Gale Brewer, who says the policy will gobble up too many parking spots.

September 30, 2025

DATA: Not Paying Fines? Keep Speeding, Says New York City

It's yet another case of "anything goes" for drivers in Adams's New York.

September 30, 2025
See all posts