To: Edward Mangano, Nassau County Executive, Norma Gonsalves, Presiding Officer, Judy Jacobs, Francis X. Becker, Dave Denenberg, Michael Venditto, Kevan Abrahams, and Hon. John G. Marks, Exec. Dir. of Traffic & Parking Violations Agency

Stop Unfair Implementation of School Zone Speed Cameras

We petition the Nassau County Legislature for a moratorium, and the courts for leniency, in the administration of fines and penalties assessed under the recently enacted school zone speed camera policy until a fair and compassionate system can be put into operation.

Why is this important?

We, the undersigned, wish to express our concern regarding the recently enacted policy of photo-video enforcement of speed limits in Nassau County school zones.
While we appreciate the intention to increase safety, we question the fairness of the way in which this policy has been implemented. Engineering and education should always precede enforcement.
Specifically, there has been a sudden computerized enforcement of school zone speed limits that have rarely, if ever, been enforced before. This has resulted in multiple, though unintentional and unknowing, violations and huge fines. This does not constitute fairness or due process.
In the interest of compassion, a warning would be more appropriate for first-time offenders, as well as for those who may have committed multiple violations in a very short period, but were informed of the first one and subsequent ones only weeks later.
We agree with Judy Jacobs, who has called for the County Executive to "stop the program cold, now, and reassess how to continue in a fair and equitable way."
We, therefore, petition the Legislature for a moratorium, and the courts for leniency, in the administration of fines and penalties assessed under this new policy, until a fair and compassionate system can be put into operation.