BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo Common Council members on Tuesday are expected to limit when the controversial school speed zone cameras can operate.
Currently the school speed zone cameras operate the entire school day, though that's because Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown last month vetoed an amendment which would have limited its hours to when schools are dropped off and picked up from school: 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
A supermajority of lawmakers can override that veto, which is expected on Tuesday unless a compromise is made before then between the mayor and city lawmakers.
"Our goal is to amend that and have it go back to the original legislation so that our children are safe and people aren't being penalized in the midst of a pandemic," University District Councilman Rasheed Wyatt told WBEN.
When asked about the speed zones last week, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said resident complaints of speeding are what led to the zones that utilize cameras that can detect how fast a person is going. If someone is going more than ten miles per hour over the speed limit, the cameras will take a photo of the car and a $50 fine will be sent via mail.
"It's only 20 school zones," Brown said. "The 20 zones we have are by the schools that have the highest traffic counts, so the most traffic going by them, and the highest number of accidents that have occurred in those areas."
However, only five schools have cameras that are in operation. Brown said that there were many people speeding past those schools in the initial weeks, some of whom are habitual speeders.
"We want to protect our children and there is a penalty to change driving behavior to get people in the City of Buffalo to slow down when they're driving past schools," Brown said. "50 percent of those who are going past schools are exceeding the speed limit that has been set live in the suburbs."
A group of activists last week rallied outside City Hall over the speed zones because they believe investing is street design and traffic calming infrastructure is better than fining the public. In that rally, they also said few police officers are issuing stop receipts.
"Safety is not the concern of the city or BPD, it's clearly a money grab," Jalonda Hill, a community organizer for the Fair Fines and Fees Coalition said. "Most of these tickets, including the school speed zone cameras, are issued not for safety but to raise money for the city and to fill budget holes in the city budget."
Councilman Wyatt acknowledged concerns that some people are being especially hurt from he. He gave an example of a senior woman who had $100 in tickets but is on a fixed income.
"That should have never happened," Wyatt said. "Hopefully on Tuesday we will overturn it and it will go back to the times that again protects children. People, for the most part I think, are conscious of children when they are going to school. The majority of tickets I've seen from people have been in those hours when children are safe in the classroom."
The special session with the Buffalo Common Council begins at 11 a.m.
