NYPD Bans City's Second-Most Ticketed Driver From Driving Squad Cars

It's difficult to imagine that breaking the law behind the wheel with reckless abandon is good for anyone's job security. Traffic cameras around New York City have caught James Giovansanti committing 547 violations since 2022. He's also an officer in the New York City Police Department. After at least four years of infractions, the NYPD revealed on Wednesday that it banned Giovansanti from driving squad cars. The ban, as it stands, is only temporary as the department conducts an internal affairs investigation.

Giovansanti's Ram 1500 pickup became a common sight on Staten Island as it sped in school zones and blew through red lights. Streetsblog revealed he received 187 camera-issued tickets just last year. The eye-watering total ranks him as the second-worst driver in the entire city. The official didn't receive any blowback from his employee because the city's camera-issued tickets don't appear on your record unless you pay the fine. Giovansanti paid every penny of the $36,650.02 he owed.

However, public fervor for authorities to take action against Giovansanti exploded once the spotlight shone on his atrocious driving record. His ban and internal affairs probe became public at a precinct community meeting when a Staten Island resident asked, "Officer Giovansanti almost ran over someone, and we don't know how his crimes are being addressed. We'd like to know." Only time will tell if the investigation results in a more substantial punishment.

While we have to wait and see if the NYPD actually holds Giovansanti accountably, the State of New York has already begun a crackdown on serial speeders. Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation in May that will require any driver with 16 or more traffic violations in 12 months to have Intelligent Speed Assistance technology installed in their vehicles. According to WABC, she said at the signing, "We have to protect people and if someone is so flagrantly violating the laws that there's a callous disregard of human life-that's the only way I can describe it-there have to be consequences have to be."

The law isn't retrospective, so Giovansanti won't have a smart limiter put in his pickup truck. New York isn't the only state that has enacted this kind of legislation. Virginia's version is far harsher. Starting on July 1, any driver caught going over 100 miles per hour in the Old Dominion will be required to have a speed-limiting device installed on their car. The broad idea is that fines and license suspensions don't deter people from driving recklessly; only direct action to improve road safety gets tangible results.