It’s almost like printing money.
Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed Tuesday that the city had collected an astonishing $9.15 million since January from $50 fines generated by speed cameras around public schools.
And that’s from fewer than two dozen cameras.
The mayor traveled to PS 95 in The Bronx to announce that motorists had better slow down around a lot more schools because 140 of the cameras will be in place by the end of 2015, thanks to legislation authorized by Albany in June.
“Speed cameras are a wake-up call. They change behavior. They make people act different,” de Blasio said, speaking at an intersection where seven pedestrians were injured in vehicular accidents over four years.
The fine revenue is nearly four times the $2.5 million estimate the city had projected last September, when the cameras were first authorized.
The city’s haul was especially impressive considering that only six of the speed cameras were operating in January.
By June, another 15 had been turned on. Officials said three more would be added by Thursday, when public schools open.
Some of the new cameras won’t be on light poles, but instead will be in unmarked police cars, officials said.
Fines kick in when a driver exceeds the posted limit by 11 mph or more.
That’s not hard to do at some schools, where the limit is just 15 mph.