New York, New York — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans on Friday to improve pedestrian safety, just as schools in the city reopen for in-person classes for the fall semester.

De Blasio announced that the New York Police Department (NYPD) will increase its focus on traffic safety, with a special emphasis on school zones, reports SILive. Specifically, officers will crackdown on speeding, reckless driving and failure to yield to pedestrians in five boroughs. More than 60% of pedestrian fatalities in the city this year have been related in some way to vehicles not yielding to people walking in crosswalks.

NYPD officers will also be cracking down on illegal phone use and texting while driving, as well as drunk driving.

The mayor also called for 24/7/365 operation of the city’s speed cameras in school zones. He is urging the state legislature in Albany to approve the cameras’ expanded hours of operation. Currently, they only operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays.

SILive reports that, according to de Blasio, 36% of non-highway traffic fatalities last year happened in school camera zones during times when the city was barred by law from issuing tickets for violations.

Despite their limited hours of operation, the cameras appear to have been effective at reducing the number of traffic accidents. Additionally, there was nearly a 17% decrease in total injuries from traffic accidents in school corridors one year after their installation.

The De Blasio administration believes the reduction in traffic accidents and injuries could be even greater if the cameras in school zones ran all of the time.

If you appreciated this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!

Related Content