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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S7891
Title of bill
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to speed limits; and to provide for notice to community boards regarding the lowering of certain speed limits
Summary of provisions
This bill amends section 1642 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) to allow the City of New York to establish a 25 mile per hour (mph) citywide speed limit. It also requires notice and public comment period to be provided to community board or community boards within whose jurisdictions the area lies whose speed is to be reduced by 5mph or more from current levels. Furthermore, it requires that should such area fall within the jurisdiction of more than one community board, the City of New York may establish a speed limit only by local law. The bill also includes reporting requirements.
Read the full memo (604 words)
Reasons for support
Mayor de Blasio recently released a detailed report outlining the City's "Vision Zero" action plan, which calls for the implementation of several traffic safety initiatives to reduce preventable pedestrian and motorist fatalities. This report highlights an unfortunate reality - each year in New York City over 2.50 people are killed and nearly 4,000 are seriously injured in traffic crashes. Cras- hes often have multiple contributing factors including speeding, driver inattention, and failure to yield to pedestrians.
A multi-faceted approach is needed to address these dangerous driving habits, especially excessive speeding. That is why the City has commit- ted to pursuing several safety enhancements such as rapidly implementing engineering improvements at intersections, increasing speed enforcement on arterial streets and establishing new neighborhood slow zones. While these actions represent meaningful progress, the City needs additional tools that are impactful enough to significantly reduce the number of serious injuries and fatalities on City streets. One particularly power- ful tool is the ability to establish a 25 mph speed limit in the City, which can be the catalyst in curbing dangerous driver behavior.
Studies have shown that lowering the speed limit, even by five mph, can have a serious impact in reducing the number of traffic-related injuries and deaths. Traveling at lower speeds can greatly reduce crashes because both motorists and other street users have more time to see each other and react safely to avoid potential accidents. And, if a crash does occur, the severity of injuries is greatly reduced at lower speeds.
To illustrate this point, one needs to consider the following facts: if a pedestrian is hit at 40 mph there is about a 7 in 10 chance of being killed. At 35 mph, there is a 5 in 10 chance of being killed. At 30 mph, there is a 1 in 5 chance of being killed. If the speed limit were lowered to 2.5 mph, the chance of an accident resulting in death drops significantly to 1 in 10.
Another benefit to having a citywide default speed limit of 25 mph is the marked improvement in vehicle stopping distance. At 25 mph, stopping
distance is improved by 45 feet (23%), which will allow many crashes to be avoided altogether.
City streets must meet the demands of vehicles, buses, cyclists and pedestrians simultaneously. Being able to lower the speed limit to 25 mph would help ensure a harmonious relationship among all who traverse City streets and greatly increase the City's ability to keep everyone safe.
Where an even lower speed limit is warranted, on streets where traffic calming measures are not feasible, the City can improve this relation- ship even further by establishing a 20 mph speed limit.
Effective date
The ninetieth day after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.