The city of Albany, New York, voted to implement automatic speed cameras in its school zones. After a grace period, the system began mailing tickets to October. It’s already collected $3.24 million. But only a fraction of this goes back to the city of Albany.
Automatic cameras that detect a vehicle’s speed, read its license plate, and mail the owner a ticket are an increasingly popular technology. Their implementation is dividing towns. But the city of Albany decided that school zones were one place where any technology that might slow drivers down was welcome.
At the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, Albany rolled out all-new speed cameras in its school zones. The system enforces the limit on school days, between 7 AM and 6 PM. School zones have a 20 mph limit, but drivers had to be moving 30 mph to find a ticket in their mail.
The system already clocked one driver tearing through at 75 mph. That driver received one of the 107,000 tickets issued. Seventy percent of the speeders were from out of town. Only 71,000 of them have paid up…