Saturday, March 15, 2025
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has not addressed red light camera fee reimbursement to motorists after the New York State appellate division court determined the fees to be illegal on Nov. 27.
Pressure is mounting from Nassau County officials and residents to refund motorists for the illegal fees.
Motorists driving in the county, who have been ticketed as a result of a red-light camera offense, have been paying illegal fees to the Nassau County Traffic and Parking Violations Agency, which began tacking them onto tickets, and gradually increasing them, since 2011.
The Nassau County Democratic Committee proposed the Fair Fees and Accountability Act during a news conference at the Nassau County Legislature office on Dec. 9. The bill, if passed, would establish a fund to reimburse motorists who have paid the illegal fees since the program began.
However, New York Legislator Carrie Solages said Blakeman’s administration did not review the bill, despite the committee’s phone calls and letters to his office. “It wasn’t even put on the agenda,” Solages said.
According to the county website, NassauCountyNY.gov, all future red light camera fines will be $50 without any additional fees, except for an applicable $25 late fee, as of Nov. 27. However, there are still no current plans to reimburse motorists for the fees prior to the court’s decision.
Nassau County motorists are worried they will never see their fees returned if the county doesn’t act soon, a concern Elmont resident Karlene Simpson agreed with. “If they’re not even looking at it, then it’s a possibility that it doesn’t get passed and we’ll never get reimbursed,” she said of the bill.
Blakeman has not responded to the Herald’s repeated requests for comment.
Simpson said she received two red light tickets in Nassau County. One of the tickets she received from a red light camera on Dutch Broadway in Elmont in 2023 was issued before the court ruled the fees to be illegal. The second ticket she received from a red light camera on Central Avenue in Valley Stream was issued to her last month, after the court ruling.
The summons Simpson received in the mail for the second ticket still listed the illegal $100 fee, but when she went online to pay it on the traffic agency’s website, it showed she owed only $50.
Solages corroborated Simpson’s claim and said the traffic agency is still sending out summons to residents that include the illegal fee. He said it is only when residents go to pay online or in person that they are told they do not owe the additional fees. His concern is that people who do not pay online or go in person might still pay the full amount.
As of press time, the Herald is still awaiting a response from the traffic agency.
At this point, Solages said, the county needs to reimburse motorists before it is potentially sued in a multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit. While no lawsuit has been filed yet, he clarified, the county could potentially see a lawsuit in the coming weeks. According to New York State law, a Notice of Claim for a class action lawsuit must be filed within 90 days after the incident occurred, which in this case is the Nov. 27 court decision.
The Institute for Highway Safety, whose website states they are an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization, has conducted studies on red light camera programs that are referenced on the county’s traffic agency website. The IIHS also outlines a checklist of recommendations for counties to conduct their red light camera programs effectively.
A 2021 article on the IIHS website, which included the checklist, said, “If the cameras are doing their jobs, communities should expect revenue to decline over time as fewer drivers violate speed limits or run red lights.”
However, according to Nassau County data, red-light camera revenue has increased over time. The program generated $64 million in revenue in 2022, which was a 23% increase from two years prior. In addition, the county issued 492,540 red light tickets, which was a near-record number of tickets in the 15 years the program has been operating.
The increase in revenue from the program concerns some county officials, such as Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, the Nassau County legislature minority leader. During the Dec. 9 news conference, DeRiggi-Whitton claimed the red light fees are nothing more than a cash grab.
Some motorists have noted they received tickets for making a right on red at intersections that do not have “No Turn On Red” signage, which has led some motorists to question the intention of the program.
Simpson said when she entered the two intersections she received red light camera tickets at, it was during a yellow light. But, she continued, she felt she was not given ample time to make it through the yellow light, and the camera flashed the second the light turned red, with no grace period.
The IIHC website explicitly includes concerns about signage and signal timing in their checklist. The website states any obvious problems with sightlines, signage or signal timing that are keeping drivers from obeying the law should be corrected before the cameras are installed.
According to the website, “Public support for the programs can erode when they are poorly run or when people believe their purpose is to generate revenue rather than to prevent crashes.” As a result of these public concerns, the article continued, community input is key.
Simpson said she is not opposed to the red light camera program and sees it as a positive program for the community to encourage safe driving. Rather, she disagreed with the way the program is being run. “It’s a catch-22,” Simpson said of the current program. “You want to do the right thing, but you also don’t want to be charged more than you should.”
According to the IIHS guidelines, counties should create an advisory committee consisting of law enforcement, victim advocates, civil rights advocates, school officials and residents to help make decisions about guiding principles and other aspects of the program. The democratic committee included an advisory committee in the fee reimbursement bill they proposed at last month’s news conference.
Simpson said she would like to see public input about the program if it were to continue in the future. “I want to make sure it’s being productive and makes sense for the community,” she said. “I think when they’re making these rules or laws, they should have the community’s opinion.”
