NYPD officer James Giovansanti accumulated 547 speed and red-light camera tickets since 2022 on Staten Island; the department took no disciplinary action, citing off-duty status.
Key Takeaways
NY state law classifies camera tickets as non-point violations; Giovansanti’s 547 tickets triggered zero license points, suspensions, or DMV actions regardless of frequency.
DOT data shows drivers with 2+ moving violations per year are 40x more likely to cause a fatal or serious-injury crash; Giovansanti averaged 130+ tickets per year.
His RAM 1500 was ticketed 25 times by a camera on the same block as P.S. 22 (700 students) and 105 combined times at two cameras near Port Richmond High School (1,500 students).
Four red-light tickets occurred within 5 minutes of a separate speeding ticket, consistent with running lights at speed, one of the deadliest possible maneuvers.
The “Stop Super Speeders Act” pending in Albany would mandate speed limiters for worst repeat offenders; Giovansanti’s truck would have been capped by August 2022 under the proposed threshold.
Hacker News Comment Review
Discussion centered on the camera-vs-officer enforcement gap: a camera ticket for 11+ mph over the limit adds zero points, while the same offense caught by a cop costs 4 points and 3 tickets suspend a license, making camera-only speeders structurally immune to license consequences.
Commenters broadly argued the NYPD’s “off-duty” defense reflects a documented pattern where officers avoid enforcing traffic laws partly because they routinely break them; qualified immunity and weak civilian oversight were cited as root causes.
A recurring irony noted across comments: Giovansanti appears to be one of the few NYC officers who did not obscure his license plate, which is the only reason he was identifiable from camera data at all.
Notable Comments
@robhlt: The Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program, which allowed DOT to seize vehicles after 15+ speed or 5+ red-light camera tickets per year, expired in 2023 after DOT failed to act on most eligible offenders.
