The city’s s worst “super speeders” will be forced to install speed-limiting devices on their cars, under a new state law passed Tuesday.
The measure, approved as part of the state’s budget, will require drivers with 16 or more speed camera violations in a year to install a speed-limiting device that uses GPS technology to keep drivers from going faster than posted speed limits.
The new law is set to take effect about one year from the date Gov. Kathy Hochul signs the budget — and will apply only to violations that occur after that.
“New York is putting these super speeders on notice,” Hochul said at a press conference earlier this month. “You’ll not flout our laws, and you’ll not endanger children, pedestrians and other drivers who deserve to feel safe.”
The law builds on the city’s existing school zone camera program.
Cameras can be used only within a quarter‑mile of a school under state law, and in the Big Apple school zone cameras operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Registered owners receive a $50 ticket in the mail when their vehicle is recorded traveling more than 10 miles-per-hour above the posted limit in one of the city’s 750 school camera zones.
The new law targets a small group of drivers — around 14,600 cars continue to blow past the cameras despite repeated fines.
Super speeders are often behind the wheel of high‑end vehicles, according to a report by Transportation Alternatives that analyzed city speed camera data.
The group found that repeat offenders frequently drove late‑model BMWs, Mercedes‑Benzes, Audis and large luxury SUVs.
The new law contains escalating penalties. Drivers who blow off the order to install a device can be hit with a fine ranging from $1,500 to $2,500.
If no devices are installed by 45 days after the deadline, the Department of Motor Vehicles can suspend the car’s registration.
Anyone caught tampering with or trying to bypass a limiter faces the same fines, plus a one‑year registration suspension and extra time with the limiter on their car.
Darnell Sealy-McCrorey, a member of Families for Safe Streets whose 13-year-old daughter was killed by a speeding driver, praised the measure.
Young Niyell was struck by a speeding driver at West 110th Street and Manhattan Avenue in 2024.
“As a father who lost his daughter to a speeding driver, I can finally sleep at night knowing that New York will slow down the most reckless drivers on our streets,” Sealy-McCrorey said. “Niyell deserved so much better, and I hope that with this bill, other children just like her will grow up to live the futures they deserve.”
