What's happening
This bill requires the creation of scramble crosswalks at school intersections during student arrival and dismissal times for increased safety.
Why it matters
Requires physical and signaling upgrades at school intersections,. which may mean significant investments by local governments in new traffic lights, signage, and road markings, potentially impacting municipal budgets and timelines for implementation.
Changes traffic flow during key school hours (8:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.),. temporarily stopping all vehicle movement—including right turns—at designated intersections, which could reduce traffic efficiency but aims to prioritize child pedestrian safety over vehicular convenience.
Explicitly defines legal behavior for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers,. clarifying when each group can enter the intersection and mandating that bicyclists yield to pedestrians, reducing ambiguity and potential points of conflict.
Introduces standardized safety signage and procedures,. likely increasing public awareness and compliance, but requiring a coordinated public education effort to ensure all road users understand the new intersection rules.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Add Scramble Crosswalks at Schools
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to transportation
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
8099
IN SENATE
March 20, 2020
Introduced by Sen. RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to establishing scramble crosswalks leading to and from school buildings during times of student arrival and dismissal
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision (a) of section 1642 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new paragraph 28 to read as follows:
28. (a) Establishment of scramble crosswalks leading to and from school buildings during times of student arrival and dismissal. Such scramble crosswalks shall include, but not be limited to, the following requirements:
(i) scramble crosswalks shall operate on weekdays between 8:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M.;
(ii) pedestrians shall wait until a pedestrian-control signal indicates a sign to walk;
(iii) vehicles shall not turn right at the intersection while the traffic signal indicates a red light;
(iv) bicyclists may proceed with pedestrians when a pedestrian-control signal indicates a sign to walk, provided however, such bicyclists shall yield the right of way to all pedestrians in the intersection;
(v) bicyclists may proceed with vehicular traffic while the traffic signal indicates a green light; and
(vi) signs shall be erected at such intersections with a scramble crosswalk indicating that no person shall enter the intersection unless a pedestrian-control signal indicates that all pedestrians may walk.
(b) For the purposes of this paragraph, "scramble crosswalk" means a crosswalk with a traffic signal which temporarily stops all vehicular traffic while a pedestrian-control signal indicates that all pedestrians at the intersection shall cross the intersection at the same time.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16000-01-0
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to establishing scramble crosswalks leading to and from school buildings during times of student arrival and dismissal
Purpose or general idea of bill
Establishes scramble crosswalks, adjacent to schools during hours of operation, allowing pedestrians to cross without any vehicular traffic to protect students and families from being struck.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 Paragraph 28:
(a) Establishes scramble crosswalks leading to and from schools during weekdays at 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM; describes vehicular, cycling and pedes- trian traffic rules during that time.
(b) Defines scramble crosswalks
Section 2: Sets the effective date.
Justification
As of February 2020, 232 cyclists and 819 pedestrians have been injured on New York City streets with 11 pedestrians killed. The NYPD Motor Vehicle Collision Report Statistics identifies error or confusion by pedestrians or bikes, failure to yield right-of-way, traffic control disregard, and turning improperly as some contributing factors to injury and fatal collisions. Decreased education funding has limited transpor- tation options for school districts. Many students walk to and from school, increasing pedestrian traffic during school hours of operation. The implementation of pedestrian scramble crosswalks will increase the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles limiting chances of injury and death.
Legislative history
New Bill
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
TBD
Effective date
This act shall take effect 90 days after it becomes law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.