Apr 28, 2026
For most Rochester drivers, I-490 is just the road you take to work without a second thought. But for nearly a month in late 2024, that commute turned into an expensive ambush.
In a staggering 25-day sprint, automated DOT cameras slapped drivers with more than 26,000 speeding tickets — that’s more than 1,000 a day. While the state frames this as "safety," the math tells a different story. At a conservative estimate, that’s $1.3 million in revenue squeezed out of Monroe County residents in less than a month.
Advertisement
For drivers like Kent Kroemer, the impact was personal. He says he was hit with three tickets in a short span, turning a routine commute into a costly surprise.
Now, a court judge has stepped in and overturned a group of those tickets (1), while also questioning how the Rochester Department of Transportation handled the enforcement and the evidence behind the cases.
And while this is unfolding in one part of New York, it taps into something drivers everywhere already know: speeding tickets are one of the most common — and expensive — mistakes you can make behind the wheel.
Millions in fines
Out of the thousands of tickets issued on I-490, only 239 drivers chose to contest them in Rochester city traffic court. Most didn't succeed, with all but 40 losing their appeals.
That low success rate made the decision to challenge a ticket a significant gamble. Many drivers who believe they're wrongly ticketed find the process more complicated than expected.
One driver, Kent Kroemer, said it felt like the system required him to prove he wasn't speeding, rather than the burden being on the enforcement system to clearly show that he was. "It was almost like three on one where the prosecutor, the judicial hearing officer and the clerk were all against the defendant," he told News10NBC (2).
For a lot of people, paying the fine can feel easier than spending time and energy fighting it.
Altogether, a conservative estimate puts the revenue from those 26,000 tickets at about $1.3 million in just 25 days.
Advertisement
That figure has drawn added scrutiny after Judge Doug Randall overturned a group of the automated speeding tickets tied to the program. In his rulings, he criticized how evidence was handled and raised concerns about how Rochester's traffic court processed these cases, writing in his decision (3) that "[the proceeding] was the most egregious event" with "barely any evidence."
His decision doesn't undo the fines already paid by most drivers, but it does raise a lingering question: if some tickets didn't hold up under review, how many drivers ended up paying anyway?
Must Read
- Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake — are you doing the same?
- Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how
- Robert Kiyosaki says this 1 asset will surge 400% in a year and begs investors not to miss this ‘explosion’
Join 250,000+ readers and get Moneywise’s best stories and exclusive interviews first — clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.
Growing questions about fairness
Across the U.S., speeding tickets are the most common traffic violation, and they're not cheap. The average fine (4) comes to around $150, but depending on where you're driving and how fast you are going, drivers can easily pay anywhere from about $100 to $500 or more for a single violation.
That's before factoring in everything else that can come with it. Insurance rates can go up after a ticket, and court fees or administrative costs can push the total even higher. What starts as a single fine can quietly turn into a much larger expense over time. And unlike gas, tolls, or insurance premiums, this isn't something drivers budget for.
Across the country, automated enforcement tools are usually sold as a way to improve road safety. But in practice, they also introduce a financial layer that can hit everyday drivers quickly, especially those who take the same commute day after day.
The takeaway isn't that every ticket is unfair or unnecessary. It's that the cost of driving can escalate faster than most people expect, and often in ways you don't see coming. Because sometimes, the real cost of getting to work isn't just fuel or time. It's what shows up in your mailbox a few weeks later.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
News10NBC (1),(2),(3); Escort Radar (4)
You May Also Like
- Turning 50 with $0 saved for retirement? Most people don’t realize they’re actually just entering their prime earning decade. Here are 6 ways to catch up fast
- Inside a $1B real estate fund offering access to thousands of income-producing rental properties — with flexible minimums starting at $10
- Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it
- Here are 5 easy ways to own multiple properties like Bezos and Beyoncé. You can start with $10 (and no, you don’t have to manage a single thing)
Laura Grande is a freelance contributor with nearly 15 years of industry experience. Throughout her career she's written about and edited a range of topics, from personal finance and politics to health and pop culture.
