What to know about new school zone rules in New Orleans
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New Orleans has about 70 traffic cameras in school zones. Photo: Carlie Kollath Wells/Axios New Orleans
Flashing lights and enforcement cameras in New Orleans school zones may not be operating at the correct times, city leaders say.
Why it matters: You may get speeding tickets you don't deserve.
The big picture: The Department of Public Works is in the process of updating school zone cameras, lights and signage to comply with a new state law, according to a city statement.
- A new law that went into effect in May says the cameras can only operate one hour before and after the start of school and one hour before and after the end of school.
- That means, with New Orleans' diverse school management, the city no longer has a uniform time for school zones.
- The city recently launched a website with the list of traffic cameras, their locations and their hours of operation.
Between the lines: The list came days after the city denied a Freedom of Information Act request from Lens reporter Marta Jewson about the same details.
- The city said her request was seeking legal advice, according to a screenshot she posted on X.
- Jewson has been reporting about school zones for years.
What to do: The city says it will dismiss tickets issued outside the new time frames.
- Appeal your ticket to [email protected].
- The city didn't respond to questions about how many appeals have been received or when the school zone equipment will be operating correctly.
- Here's a map of school zones as of last year.
State of play: New Orleans has long struggled with enforcing school zones.
- A Lens survey in 2015 found that nearly half of the city's flashing lights were malfunctioning.
- Last year, the City Council passed an ordinance requiring the yellow lights to be working properly in order to issue camera tickets, Jewson reported.
- And this year, the mayor's office said school zone enforcement was delayed due to the new law. The cameras are usually turned on Aug. 1.
Zoom in: They weren't activated until Aug. 23 because the city was still negotiating revenue-sharing agreements as part of the new law.
- School zone cameras now require these between the city and each school's governing authority.
- The fines from traffic cameras, according to the new law, pay for operating the cameras, and the rest is divided between the school's governing authority and the city.
- The agreements hadn't been signed as of the end of August, but the mayor's office said groups agreed to turn them on and hold the fines in escrow.
By the numbers: The city previously put $20 million in traffic camera revenue into its operating budget with no dedicated use, according to The Times-Picayune.
The fine print: A city spokesperson told Axios New Orleans on Friday that negotiations with the Orleans Parish School Board, the Archdiocese, charter school groups and other governing bodies were ongoing.
The bottom line: Always be cautious when driving by a school, but especially now, as school zone signage might not be up to date.