Drivers in New Orleans now receive a ticket for going 24 mph in a school zone, instead of 26.
This change came on February 4, without any notice to citizens—despite recommendations from staff that if the city really wanted drivers to slow down, then they would first announce the change to the public. The result of the lower threshold over the course of the first two months was, in fact, only the ticketing of thousands of drivers who previously would not have been fined.
During a City Council meeting on April 12, Cantrell’s defense for this decision to withhold this information from the public was that she believed disclosing the lower limit for ticketing would “encourage people to break the law.” She also claimed that if she could, she would instate a zero-tolerance policy for speeding in school zones.
However, the current policy is the strictest Cantrell will be able to enforce legally because of the challenges faced when calibrating traffic cameras.
