NEW ORLEANS – The City of New Orleans announced the locations of and deployment schedule for additional traffic safety cameras beginning Monday, Jan. 9. The new cameras were previously announced during the 2017 budget process. The new deployment, which will be rolled out through April, will include 45 permanently-fixed traffic safety cameras and 10 mobile traffic safety camera units.
The purpose of the Traffic Camera Safety Program is to deter red light violations, reduce speeding violations, increase traffic situational awareness and reduce collision severity. Over 80 percent of individuals who receive a traffic safety camera citation and pay it do not get another citation. Only 21 of the City’s 134 schools (16 percent) are covered by a traffic safety camera. The City has received over 45 requests to install new traffic safety cameras from residents and neighborhoods in response to speeding. Mobile traffic safety camera units will be initially deployed in school zones that are not covered by fixed traffic safety cameras and may be deployed throughout the City to supplement traffic enforcement by the New Orleans Police Department.
“With thousands of drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians on the roads every day, specifically in school zones, it’s our job to do everything in our power to increase road safety,” said Col. Mark Jernigan, Director of the City of New Orleans Department of Public Works. “We have come a long way in making driving safer in New Orleans but we still have work to do. We want the public to be aware that there are consequences for those who break the law and jeopardize the safety of our students, bicyclists, drivers and pedestrians.”
Automated fixed and mobile violation detection systems are deployed at locations throughout the City to supplement and support traffic enforcement by the NOPD. The City currently has 66 traffic safety cameras deployed at 42 different locations.
“The camera system is vital to the everyday working relationship with the New Orleans Police Department because it gives an extra set of eyes and evidence to help support the actual violations,” said Commander of NOPD Traffic Division Lt. Anthony Micheu. “If we can save one life because of any of the cameras placed we do believe that that’s an effective tool.”
Dr. Kathryn Parker, Director of KidsWalk Coalition, said, “Traffic cameras really do reduce speeding and collisions in school zones and thereby improve safety for children and families.”
NEW CAMERAS IN SCHOOL ZONES
The City will activate a total of 45 new cameras covering 32 locations along major streets and close to schools for increased safety.
The cameras will be activated in the following locations:
Napoleon Ave. @ St. George’s Episcopal School
Fontainebleau Ave. @ St. Rita Catholic School
Prentiss Ave. @ Holy Cross School
Martin Luther King Blvd. @ Sylvanie Williams Prep
S. Carrollton Ave. @ Lafayette School
Canal St. @ St. John Lutheran School
Napoleon Ave. @ St. Stephen School
St. Bernard Ave. @ Nelson Elementary School
Magazine St. @ St. Katherine Drexel
L.B. Landry Ave. @ Fischer Elementary
Jackson Ave. @ Mahalia Jackson Elementary
Bienville St. @ Success Prep
S. Carrollton Ave. @ Stuart Hall School
Jefferson Ave. @ Isidore Newman
Canal St. @ Warren Easton High School
Esplanade Ave. @ Bricolage Academy
Mirabeau St. / Louisa St. @ Parkview Elementary
Broadway St. @ Audubon Charter School
Trafalgar St. @ Langston Hughes Elementary
Robert E. Lee Blvd. @ Mount Carmel High School
Berkley Drive @ Algiers Tech Academy
Spanish Fort Blvd. @ St Pius X School
Paris Ave. @ St Leo the Great
Magnolia St. @ KIPP Central
Magazine Ave. @ Ecole Bilingue
Baronne St. @ Good Shepard School
N. Dorgenois St. @ Life Christ Christian Academy
A.P. Tureaud Ave. @ St. Augustine High School
Esplanade Ave. @ McDonogh 28 Elementary
Nashville Ave. /Freret St. @ Lusher Middle & High Schools
Broadway St. @ Lusher Elementary
Orleans Ave. @ Wheatley Elementary
THRESHOLD FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY CAMERA CITATIONS
Traffic safety camera citations are issued when violators exceed the posted speed limit by six miles per hour inside of a school zone.
In March 2012, in an effort to promote fair and reasonable enforcement, the City changed the mile per hour threshold for non-school zone time traffic safety camera citations from six to 10 miles per hour or greater over the posted speed limit.
SCHOOL ZONE HOURS
School zone times are from 7–9 a.m. and from 2:45–4:45 p.m.
APPEALS PROCESS
Road safety camera citations are first appealed to City administrative adjudication hearing officers. Traffic court provides for a de novo review (i.e. new trial). Subsequent appeals can be made to Civil District Court, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court would be final appeal, if it accepts a case.
EQUITABLE COLLECTIONS
In 2012, the City strengthened its efforts to collect delinquent traffic safety camera citations, especially for those violators who have received multiple delinquent citations.
In addition to field noticing and more aggressive booting, the City sends those with $500 or more in delinquent fees and fines a letter notifying the individual of the potential for civil litigation. The City Attorney’s office then uses its discretion in pursuing litigation as appropriate for scofflaws who are non-responsive.
In addition to efforts to improve collections of frequent violators who owe, the City has taken several efforts to ensure that all City employees are paying for citations issued to them, including while on the job. The City’s employee policies ensure that tickets are properly distributed to the vehicle liaison in each department for timely distribution to the employee who was operating the vehicle at the time the violation occurred; City employees who do not pay for the citations they receive will be notified of their delinquent status and have 30 days to pay or will be subject to disciplinary action. Waivers for public safety vehicle violations will be limited to occasions when higher speeds have been approved by supervisors based on a request for service from the public.
In order to encourage adherence to speed limits and maintain safe speeds in neighborhoods and near schools, the City maintains a number of safety cameras across the New Orleans.
View full list of traffic safety camera locations here
