Greenfield Wants To Add Cameras To School Buses
Councilman David Greenfield is looking to catch reckless drivers who dangerously swerve around school buses by employing Big Brother to help keep children safer.
The New York Daily News is reporting that Greenfield proposed a plan that would mount cameras to the backs of school buses. The cameras would then record the actions and licence plate numbers of drivers who break the law by speeding around school buses that are picking up children.
Greenfield was unapologetic in his call for increased surveillance.
“If you’re willing to cut off a school bus while a school bus is picking up a child, you’re literally one of the worst drivers in New York City,” Greenfield told the Daily News.
“I’m not a big fan of tickets in general, but if you don’t care about the safety of our children, I have no sympathy for you.”Currently, if a driver is caught ignoring a school bus’s stop sign, they are issued a $250 ticket. Last year the NYPD issued 3,000 tickets for this offense but officials estimate that drivers escape punishment more often than not.
State Senator Marty Golden, who opposed a bill that would install speed enforcement cameras across the city, has come out against Greenfield’s idea as well.
“Everyone wants cameras on everything. I don’t think that works,” Golden told the Daily News.
Golden expressed concern that the cameras would not be able to differentiate between a car illegally passing a bus and one that was just inching close to it.