NEW ORLEANS — After WWL Louisiana warned drivers about new school zone enforcement times, the lawmaker that authored the change, State Senator Stewart Cathey (R-Monroe), contacted us.
“It’s kind of deceitful," Cathey said, “That is just completely outside of the scope of the law.”
Cathey claims the City of New Orleans violated the law, and here's why.
Act No. 103 states that school zone enforcement times should be based on the start and dismissal time of the nearby school. The City has been updating signage to abide by the new law.
The City said in a press release that the cameras would be activated on Aug. 23.
“Considering the safety of the students, significant stakeholders agree that the school zone speed cameras should be turned on within the school zones while we all work towards CEA finalization. Any fines generated in these areas will be held in escrow until all final agreements are in place," the City said.
But, the new law state that the agreements should have already been signed.
"A cooperative endeavor agreement executed by the municipality and each governing authority of the schools located within the municipality's boundaries shall be in place prior to implementation of automated speed enforcement devices and mobile speed cameras," Act No. 103 states.
After our story aired on Tuesday, the City announced it would automatically dismiss tickets issued outside of the new timeframe.
“If they’re issuing tickets and just dismissing them, they’re still violating the law. If you’re dismissing them, why are you still operating?” Cathey said.
If you received a ticket in the mail, you should look at it closely.
"They should be automatically dismissed. If the ticket holder believes it should have been dismissed and it was not or needs assistance, they can reach out to parking adjudication for support at the email provided," a spokesperson with the City said.
The email is parkingadjudication@nola.gov.
Earlier this week, we also found that some of the flashing yellow lights are not synched with the new enforcement times.
The City also responded to that Thursday and said that the Department of Public Works will be reprogramming the lights and updating signage.
A website was also released that shows at least 14 of New Orleans' school zone cameras have new enforcement times.
Before you hit the road, you can view which school zone times changed here.
Drivers should also remember that under city ordinance, if the lights aren't working and you get a ticket, the City can't collect.
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Video: School zone enforcement confusion in New Orleans
