Speed cameras: Will they be effective?

At the beginning of February the city of Buffalo ended a 30-day warning period for "its speed camera program."

Mayor Byron Brown says that "on any given day, cameras caught 10,000 people speeding in front of schools."

But, reports Channel 4, there is one problem.  Some of these counted as speeding were actually after school zone hours.

Connie Brand was one of the drivers warned as speeding and yet it was after the 3:30 time mark.

"The camera captured me driving through that speed zone at 3:48 or 3:49,” Brand said.  Adding, that "“Before you make those cameras live, make sure that they’re collecting the correct data,”

Typical school zone hours, such as in front of Canisus High School

 end at 3:30 p.m. That’s when the speed limit reverts to 30 mph, and the cameras should be shut off.

As of now,

As soon as the city installs flashing beacons at the locations where they’ve installed the 14 cameras, and turned those beacons on, they’ll start issuing $50 fines to drivers who have their picture taken.

How does it work?

The camera snaps an image when it detects a vehicle going at least 26 mph in the 15 mph school zone.

Kevin Helfer, the City of Buffalo’s parking commissioner admits

Brand should not have received that warning. He said whoever programmed that  camera incorrectly set it up to take pictures until 4:30, rather than 3:30. They’ve already corrected the error.

For the full story click here.