Every driver speeds sometimes. Some speed most of the time, some occasionally, but we all speed sometimes. We speed more frequently if we think we won’t be caught, and we’re willing to take that chance when we drive.

We have a pre-conceived idea of what enforcement will allow. Most drivers I have discussed this with believe something around 10 mph above the posted speed limit will probably not get them a ticket, but that isn’t necessarily reality.

Despite drivers’ propensity for speeding, all drivers should know that speed limits are lower in school speed zones on school days, and they also should know that legal speeds are lower in work zones on our highways. Those are among the basics all drivers must learn before being granted a driver’s license.

Let’s face it: No driver wants to injure a student going to or from school, and no driver wants to injure a highway worker. Yet we still speed in school speed zones and in work zones.

In late December 2024, this weekly column described the Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement (AWZSE) program in New York, a five-year joint effort by state Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) to enhance ongoing efforts to slow down motorists in work zones to make our highways safer. The system uses radar to identify vehicles traveling equal to or faster than the posted speed limit, triggering the system to capture photos and the speed of the passing vehicle.

Drivers should know that speed limits are lower in work zones, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even if no workers are present. Despite that, 33,804 notices of violations (speeding tickets) were issued in Region 3 in 2024, according to NYSDOT. Region 3 includes Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, Oswego, Seneca and Tompkins counties. The NYSDOT said the cameras caught five drivers in central New York traveling more than 100 mph, with the fastest going 115 mph, all in a work zone on I-81.

Statewide, approximately $8 million in fines were collected from the registered owners of vehicles speeding in work zones in 2024, according to NYSDOT.

In November 2024, I described an initiative in Albany where speed cameras were used to issue 12,895 speeding tickets in four school speed zones over a 10-day period in October. and the tickets were only issued to drivers who EXCEEDED THE POSTED 20 MPH SCHOOL SPEED LIMIT BY MORE THAN 10 MPH.

That comes to over 320 drivers driving at more than 30 mph in a 20-mph school speed zone in each of the four school speed zones daily.

So, what’s the solution — or is there one? With so many drivers speeding in work zones and school speed zones, we surely don’t have anywhere near enough police to watch for speeders.

Perhaps one possible solution is the use of speed cameras. As I indicated earlier, drivers speed inversely proportional to their expectation of getting a ticket. After enough drivers are fined after being caught by speed cameras, maybe drivers will realize that the chances of being caught are higher than they thought and thus will stop the incessant speeding. What do you think?