Crackdown on speeding brings 150% rise in tickets, NYPD says
NYPD officers and medics attend to a crash involving a police officer along Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan on April 20. Speeding tickets in New York City have nearly doubled as drivers take advantage of the sparse traffic during the coronavirus shutdown. Credit: Getty Images/Spencer Platt
In a bid to protect emergency and essential workers on the road, the NYPD launched a crackdown on speeding, increasing the number of tickets given to lead-footed drivers in recent weeks by close to 150%, according to the latest statistics.
The massive spike in speeding summonses came after the NYPD beefed up radar patrols, especially on weekends, and added marked cars at strategic points on highways. The speeding offensive started after data from speed cameras on residential streets showed large increases in violations, an indicator, officials believed, that drivers were emboldened to speed with fewer cars on the road during the coronavirus pandemic stay-at-home measures.
For the week ending May 3, the NYPD issued 4,035 speeding summonses, an increase of 73% over the previous week and a rise of 144% over the week ending April 19, which was just before cops beefed up speeding patrols and other enforcement.
By comparison, the NYPD wrote nearly 3,500 speeding summonses a week in the month before the pandemic measures. In particular, for the week ending March 15, the NYPD issued 3,237 speeding summonses. The emergency measures, which took full effect March 16, contributed to city drivers reducing their miles driven by around 85%, experts said.
The NYPD ratcheted up its speeding enforcement after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and other officials expressed concern that speeders could cause accidents and precipitate another hospital emergency on top of the strain caused by COVID-19.
“You have got to recognize in the middle of this crisis, the coronavirus crisis, We cannot afford another crisis, which is people speeding,” de Blasio said last month.
“The NYPD will continue its stepped-up enforcement of speed violations both on the highways and the local streets — to protect our essential and emergency workers as they serve our city,” NYPD spokesman Al Baker said Wednesday in a statement.
In recent days, NYPD unmarked cars have been seen pulling over cars on the Cross Island Parkway in Queens while marked police vehicles have been stationed at various points along the same highway. State police vehicles also have taken up positions at crucial approaches to the Throgs Neck and Whitestone bridges.
“These steps are reflected in data that highlights the NYPD’s real-time focus on stopping speeding,” Baker said, referring to the increase in summons activity.
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
