Senator John E. Brooks (SD-8) has announced plans to improve public safety along the Southern State Parkway (SSP) through the installation of 22 cameras at strategic points along the parkway that are capable of collecting license plate information.
Working in conjunction with the New York State Troopers who patrol and issue citations along the road, the proposal to increase police intelligence of activity on the parkway will lead to better enforcement and efforts to combat reckless driving. The collection of data obtained from these 22 license plate readers will allow police to check license plate information across various databases and identify drivers with outstanding warrants, as well as garner general information on traffic patterns and behavior. The cameras themselves will also function as visible deterrents to speeding, as well as to the type of reckless driving that has become such a danger on the SSP, ultimately leading to an increase in the overall safety of the parkway.
“I am proud to be working in conjunction with New York State Troopers to implement license plate readers along the Southern State Parkway,” said Senator Brooks. “For far too long, this 10-mile stretch of road has proven to be a danger to motorists, causing a litany of deadly crashes as a result, so we must do everything we can to protect our community. By installing these license plate readers, we can ensure that our police officers are able to better navigate the hazardous conditions presented by the SSP, and ultimately ensure that Long Islanders are protected.”
Similar to programs that already exist in the Village of Freeport and localities in Suffolk County, this technology allows police to check license plate information across various databases, aiding them in their ability to enforce outstanding warrants and solve crimes as well as collect informative data about traffic patterns and behavior. This program, along with a package of legislation introduced by Senator Brooks, will go a long way towards increasing public safety on dangerous roadways and assisting police in their mission to protect law-abiding motorists in New York State.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said “The addition of License Plate Readers on the Southern State Parkway will significantly enhance the police department’s ability to investigate, prevent and respond to criminal incidents while also collecting information on traffic patterns and behavior, I would like to thank Senator Brooks for his continued efforts to help keep Long Island motorists safe.”
In addition to this program, Senator Brooks has introduced legislation to further enhance safety and security on our state parkways (See below for further detail on these bills):
- S6417A establishes a highway safety corridor pilot program on the Southern State Parkway and authorizes increased penalties for traffic violations within the corridor if certain criteria are met.
- S8880A a bill requested by the State Police and the MTA, increases the fines for intentionally defacing or obscuring a license plate and allows for further action to address egregious or repeat offenders.
- S9570 requires that all rental vehicles over six feet in height be notified and provided a list of all height restricted bridges on NYS parkways and other roadways.
Senator Brooks’ proposed plan, and these corresponding pieces of legislation, are in the best interest of the residents of New York State and will go a long way towards assisting our law enforcement in their control of the SSP and other roadways. Funding for this project will come in the form of a SAM Grant to the New York State Police – Troop L in the amount of $900,000.
The implementation of this proposal was announced at today’s press conference, where Senator Brooks was joined by:
Assemblymember Michaelle C. Solages said “The Southern State Parkway continues to be one of the deadliest highways in the state, witnessing hundreds of accidents and several deaths. The mounting number of commuters has become untenable, so it’s important we provide our troopers with the support they need to maintain our safety. The funding Senator Brooks secured will provide better surveillance on the Parkway and ensure that we are improving driving conditions, increasing security, and deterring bad actors on the roadway.”
Marc Herbst - Executive Director, Long Island Contractors’ Association said:
“Long Island Contractors’ Association will continue the critical work of making the Southern State Parkway a safer place for all Long Islanders. I want to thank Senator Brooks, Assemblywoman Solages and all the local leaders who continue to advocate ferociously to save lives and reduce accidents along the Parkway. We are proud to have worked hand and hand with Senator Brooks in crafting the package of legislative priorities, and we will continue to advocate for additional funds to prevent more loss of life. We won’t stop until change is made.”
Mitch Pally - CEO, Long Island Builders Institute said:
“The Long Island Builders Institute strongly supports this coordinated effort on behalf of Senator John Brooks and the New York State Police to target speeders and other unsafe drivers who continue to make this section of the Southern State Parkway one of most dangerous areas of our Long Island transportation system. We are all hopeful that this new action will save the lives of our residents and drivers.”
Kyle Strober - Executive Director, Association for a Better Long Island said:
"Long Island has a long standing reputation of being one of America's safest suburban communities but no one can allow themselves to become complacent which is why we commend State Senator John Brooks and Assemblymember Michaella Solages for securing the funding for this innovative public safety pilot program. Designed to help keep our communities safe, it will assist exceptional law enforcement agencies whose professionalism remains unequalled.”
S6417A establishes a highway safety corridor pilot program on the Southern State Parkway and authorizes increased penalties for traffic violations within the corridor if certain criteria are met.
- Establishes a highway safety corridor on the Southern State Parkway located in Long Island and makes conforming changes; creates safety corridors and requires an engineering investigation; requires the commissioner of transportation to annually report to the governor, temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly; creates additional penalties for traffic infractions and misdemeanors committed within a safety corridor; makes related provisions.
- Southern State Parkway is known for its high number of vehicular accidents, aggressive driving, and obsolete highway design standards. This safety-related enforcement program is intended to reduce crashes, injuries and deaths in the corridor using special signs, targeted public information outreach, and increased enforcement. An assessment of the program will provide information in determining best practices for future Highway Safety Corridors in the state.
- Highway Safety Corridors are special segments of highway that are selected for special driver education and increased highway patrol enforcement. The corridors are identified by special signs telling drivers when they enter and leave the corridors. In addition to the signs, there are increased highway patrols and other enforcement measures. The intent of the corridors, the signs and the increased enforcement is to save lives by reducing traffic speed and improving driver behavior.
S8880A a bill requested by the State Police and the MTA, increases the fines for intentionally defacing or obscuring a license plate and allows for further action to address egregious or repeat offenders.
- Purposefully covering, defacing, and otherwise obscuring license plates to avoid law enforcement and penalties is a problem. The State Police and Metropolitan Transportation Authority have made clear enforcement tools available to them are not addressing the issue, and drivers are actively abusing this shortcoming on a large scale to avoid tolls and fines.
- When considering that automated enforcement or tolls can be avoided by intentionally defacing or obscuring a license plate, and that if violators are caught the current penalty is far cheaper than paying a few tolls, or a couple of red-light violations, it is a no brainer for people who are looking to game the system.
- This bill would not only increase penalties for such a violation to an appropriate level that will discourage such behavior, but also impose a set of reasonable actions that law enforcement and the government can take, such as to confiscate obscuring plate covers, suspend the registration of vehicles that do not come into compliance, or in extreme cases temporarily block certain vehicle identification numbers from registration.
- While blocking a vehicle identification number for a violation of this section may seem extreme, MTA law enforcement has time and time again seen repeat violators avoid a registration suspension by simply reregistering the vehicle with a family member or friend.
- This legislation enacts common sense updates to this section of law without imposing undue hardships on the least egregious offenders while at the same time providing the tools to ensure that repeat offenders are forced into compliance.
S9570 requires that all rental vehicles over six feet in height are notified and provided a list of all height restricted bridges on NYS parkways and other roadways.
- Many bridges and overpasses in New York have height restrictions. These crossings are often struck by large vehicles attempting to pass under them. This legislation will provide renters of large vehicles who may not be familiar with such restrictions or the whereabouts of these bridges information necessary to drive safely.