Traffic Enforcement

For an organization that claims to be in favor of red light cameras, AAA New York has a funny way of showing its support.

Despite the national outrage over the Raquel Nelson case, officials in metro Atlanta continue to treat pedestrians like criminals.

The Mayor's Management Report, an annual summation of how well city agencies are doing their jobs, includes bad news for traffic safety and sustainable streets. In the last fiscal year, traffic fatalities were at their highest level since 2008, and NYPD moving violations summonses were at a 10-year low. Meanwhile, DOT missed its bike lane and bike rack goals for the year.

The City Council Transportation Committee is on a mission to bring bike delivery workers into compliance with traffic laws, but council members appear unsure as to how to go about it.

NYPD issued more summonses for open container violations than for speeding in 2011, one of a number of law enforcement oddities revealed through data issued by police and compiled from court records.

Here's a screenshot from a snippet of video taken by an eagle-eyed reader at Northern Boulevard and 82nd Street in Queens. The construction workers who programmed this display look to be unknowingly putting themselves in danger by allowing motorists an extra five miles per hour. They have company at the top: None other than NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly flubbed a question about the city's speed limit while testifying before City Council in 1993.

After Gothamist posted a video of motorists ignoring the new left-turn ban at Delancey and Essex, we contacted NYPD to ask about traffic enforcement at one of Manhattan's most notorious intersections. We're still waiting to hear back. In the meantime, judging from this video by ANIMAL New York, it looks like police are not only not ticketing drivers who continue to put lives at risk while making illegal turns, but are joining in on the fun. See how many Delancey Kong points are racked up over the course of an hour by cops and civilians alike.

A new report from Transportation Alternatives finds that, while NYPD fails to rein in or punish reckless driving, the majority of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities are caused by illegal behavior behind the wheel.

Here's an argument for using cameras to enforce traffic laws: getting cops like this off of the traffic beat.