There was some frightening news Tuesday from a transportation group about how many drivers break the law and get away with it.
So WCBSTV went out to check the traffic in the fast lane.
Cars were zooming by at 61 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone on Ocean Parkway in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn.
Others were doing 45 in a 30 on Houston Street near Avenue C, and many zipping down the West Side Highway driving 63 in a 50 mph zone.
Armed with a radar gun CBS 2 HD saw drivers speeding around the city Tuesday and getting away with it.
“If you are driving lawlessly in New York City there is a very, very tiny chance that you’ll be ticketed for that offense,” said Paul Steely White of Transportation Alternatives.
A report released Tuesday by Transportation Alternatives had some frightening statistics about how NYC drivers speed, go through red lights and ignore other traffic violations — and don’t get caught.
The report says:
* Every day over 2.7 million New York City drivers speed.
* Only 1 in 12,698 get caught.
* A driver could speed every day in NYC and get ticketed only once in 35 years.
* Police and enforcement cameras catch only one out of 438 red light runners.
“In the unlikely event that you are ticketed there is a very large chance that your ticket will not stick, that it will be thrown out of traffic court,” Steely White said.
The group claims that the speeding and other traffic violators make the streets unsafe, but city records show that in the last two years traffic deaths in the city have been the lowest since 1910.
“Since 2002 traffic fatalities are down something like 34 percent and something like 13 percent this year alone. We have a safety record in this city that is the envy of other big cities,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
The group said that one way to crack down on wayward motorists is to allow traffic enforcement agents to write moving violations.
City officials told CBS 2 HD that their job of cracking down on motorists would be easier if Albany would approve the use of cameras to catch speeders and give the green light to the unlimited use of red light cameras.
(Source: WCBSTV)
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11 Responses
That is no surprise. The one and only speeding ticket I got was on the Palisades and I must go 5-10 miles over the speed limit or else the drivers behind me will have a fit!
There oughtta be a law…
oh…what a terrible to speed 63 in a 50 zone!
hey it gets you there faster!
Driving a vehicle is a privlege not a right! Maybe there are posted speed limits (if vehicle drivers obey the rules of the road) that may prevent accidents or RL fatalities.
#3 what do u save 5 min on a 2 hour trip “hooooray”. Drive safely its not worth it
Here are the words of my neighbor:
“for safty we should all drive as fast as we can so the roads should be clear and emergency vehicus will not have to wait in traffic”
#5 i never said not to drive safely, we both know that going 65 mph on the pallisades (which is 15 over!) is NOT DANGEROUS
The police should start giving speeding tickets on local street where some drivers are flying and there are little kids playing. To catch cars speeding on Ocean Parkway is maybe easier, but that does not add a lot to our safety. Where you need it the most is the local street. Anyone who crosses Ocean Parkway is quite careful.
That’s weird. My numbers are that only 1 in 11,842 get ticketed. How did they get their numbers?
They should crack down on speeders and other moving violations, and ticket these road criminals into oblivion.
#7- You are not right to travel over 15 miles over the speed limit may be very dangerous under certain driving conditions. If you are driving on the Pallisades in a rain storm and you have to suddenly apply your brakes to stop, you could potentially start skidding and going into a fishtail at that speed. When driving through a black icy road stretch traveling more than the posted speed limit the same scenario might repeat itself RL. I am not saying these examples would happen but the potential is there. Let the Police give speeding tickets to anyone driving recklessly, Keep The Roadways Safe.