I was greatly disturbed to read about the $3 million revenue that the city is forgoing by having a grace period for the school zone speeding violations (“60,000 drivers sped through Syracuse’s school zones last month,” Oct. 2, 2025). Whose decision was that? Warning tickets will not be a sufficient deterrent to speeders. Fines will be.
We live on James Street near Lincoln Middle School and have long been concerned about drivers who speed during school hours. So, I was thrilled when the technology for tracking speeders was installed this summer. I’ve witnessed great improvement in the responsibility of drivers since then. But there are still many speeders out there who are too unconcerned or, worse, too distracted to obey the law.
Ironically, I may be one of the beneficiaries of this grace period, as I did catch myself traveling around 5 mph over the limit one day before I reached the “End School Zone” sign. Realizing this shook me up and I would ungrudgingly pay the fine if there were one…