Valley Stream school officials considering speed cameras

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Superintendents from four Valley Stream school districts said they would consider installing speed cameras around schools, after Nassau County Executive Laura Curran proposed an opt-in program for school districts earlier this month.

“I think at the end of the day, anything that’s going to make the area safer for children is a welcome addition,” said Valley Stream School District 24 Superintendent Don Sturz. He added that he and other school district officials would look into installing a camera on Mill Road near the Robert W. Carbonaro School.

Nicholas Stirling, the superintendent for District 30, said that if a need arose he would reach out to Curran’s office. Valley Stream Central High School District Superintendent Bill Heidenreich said that he would want to speak to community members and traffic engineers before drawing any conclusions about installing speed cameras.

Heidenreich said that he understands residents’ opposition to speed cameras. In 2014, the county had a short-lived camera program that came under scrutiny because of the lack of warning signs about the placement of the cameras, and hundreds of drivers going 10 or more miles per hour above the posted speed limit were issued tickets totaling as much as $150, even when schools were not in session.

Due to those concerns, the county Legislature unanimously voted to end the program in December 2014, which generated about $30 million in revenue during its three months of operation.

Heidenreich added that he would consider opting in to the program the program if it were better implemented. “If the county could do it in a way that isn’t a money grab and does it for safety, that would be great,” he said.

Of the more than 400,000 annual traffic fatalities in the U.S. each year, only about one-third of 1 percent occur in school zones, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Two thirds of all school zone accidents involve school buses or vehicles operating as buses, and 80 percent of all school zone accidents involving pedestrians have adult victims.

Before any speed camera program could be implemented, the County Legislature would have to vote on the proposal. Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams, an East Meadow Democrat, said that while he thinks it deserves consideration, he needs more information before committing to a vote. Specifically, he said he wants to know how school districts would opt in to the program. “Is this something that could happen administratively, or is this something where the public could have open comment on?” he asked. “I think it’s better to get community input … some of the greatest community involvement happens on the school district level.”

Abrahams also said he would support districts asking residents to vote on such a proposal via a referendum. “I would want to go the extra mile to make sure this is something the community or school district actually embraces,” he said.

State Assemblyman Brian Curran, a Republican from Lynbrook, said that while his vote on a potential bill would depend on how the legislation is crafted, he mostly opposes the idea, calling it a “disguised revenue enhancer.”

“I am all for whatever we have to around school to make sure our schoolchildren are safe,” he said, “but a system of speed cameras, I believe, exists only to enhance the revenue for the county.”