Until school resumes in late summer, New Orleans officials have shut off the dozens of speed cameras in school zones, Mayor LaToya Cantrell's administration said Friday.
The cameras were shut off at 4:45 p.m., the administration said. They will be reactivated when students return to school in August; the exact dates vary depending upon the school.
While the pausing of speed cameras may gladden impatient motorists, more cameras are likely on the way in the fall. Cantrell recently signed an ordinance to make high schools eligible for the same school-zone restrictions that now apply only to K-7 schools. The administration said the expanded designation will allow for more signs, crosswalks, striping "and other traffic control devices" around high schools.
Council member Joe Giarrusso, who recently sponsored an ordinance forbidding City Hall to collect traffic fines from school zone cameras when the devices' warning lights are out, said he's not sure what to expect.
"I've not heard them express an intent to add more cameras," he said. "Is it a possibility they could? Yes, I suppose."
Cantrell spokesperson John Lawson told The Times-Picayune by email late Friday that the administration will install more speed cameras around high schools. On Saturday, he followed up to say no decision had been made yet about whether to add more traffic cameras.
The administration said it analyzed wrecks during school-zone hours over a four-year period. It found 6,532 crashes near schools, and that the most serious ones occurred near high schools