NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10144
SPONSOR: Rules (O'Donnell) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in
relation to speed limits
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To improve pedestrian, bicyclist and motor vehicle occupant safety by
authorizing the City of New York to establish a 25 mile per hour city-
wide speed limit.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one renumbers paragraph 26 of subdivision (a) of § 1642 of the
Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) as paragraph 27, and adds a new paragraph
26 to authorize cities having a population of one million or more to
establish speed limits at which vehicles may proceed within such city or
within designated areas of such city no lower than 25 miles per hour
(mph), provided that the city must give written notice to the community
board(s) with jurisdiction over the area in which the lower speed limit
would apply, and an opportunity to comment, if the reduction exceeds
five mph.
Section two amends paragraph 27 of subdivision (a) of § l642 of the VTL
to require biannual reporting by the city, beginning in 2015, on the
results of using traffic calming measures and speed limits lower than 25
mph as authorized under current law, and to include in such report a
comparison of accidents reported on such streets both before and after
implementation of such measures and speed limits.
JUSTIFICATION:
In New York City in 2013, nearly as many people died in traffic acci-
dents as were murdered. The speed at which a motorist is driving corre-
lates strongly with the likelihood that an accident with a pedestrian
will be fatal. Early numbers from this year demonstrated the critical
need for this legislation. When an earlier version of this bill was
first introduced in mid-January 2014, there had been seven pedestrian
fatalities in NYC from traffic accidents involving motor vehicles over
the course of just 14 days. On one day alone, on Manhattan's Upper West
Side, there were two such fatalities - one child and one senior citizen,
both crossing streets in crosswalks. This bill, by reducing the speed
limit on city streets, will protect all of New York City's pedestrians.
The critical need for this legislation is further supported by Mayor de
Blasio's recently released report outlining the City's "Vision Zero"
action plan, which highlights the unfortunate reality that each year in
New York City over 250 people are killed and nearly 4,000 are seriously
injured in traffic crashes. Crashes often have multiple contributing
factors including speeding, driver inattention, and failure to yield to
pedestrians. The Vision Zero plan therefore calls for the implementation
of several traffic safety initiatives to reduce preventable pedestrian
and motorist fatalities.
A multi-faceted approach is needed to address these dangerous driving
habits, especially excessive speeding, and a key element is reducing the
speed limit, which requires legislative action. Although the City has
committed to pursuing several safety enhancements such as implementing
engineering improvements at intersections, increasing speed enforcement
on arterial streets and establishing new neighborhood slow zones, it
also needs additional tools. One particularly powerful tool is the abil-
ity to establish a 25 mph speed limit in the City.
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. At
30 mph, the lowest default speed limit permitted by current law, there
is a 1 in 5 chance of being killed. If the speed limit were lowered to
25 mph, the chance of an accident resulting in death drops significantly
to 1 in 10. Another benefit to having a 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.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10144
IN ASSEMBLY
June 17, 2014
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. O'Donnell,
Silver, Mosley, Jacobs, Ortiz, Rosa, Davila, Simotas, Gottfried,
Robinson, Millman, Dinowitz, Otis, Quart, Weprin, Kavanagh, Sepulveda,
Pichardo, Wright, Scarborough, Clark, DenDekker, Benedetto, Miller,
Heastie, Simanowitz, Glick, Weinstein, Markey, Cymbrowitz, Rosenthal,
Crespo, Moya, Rodriguez, Hevesi, Arroyo, Cook, Farrell, Jaffee,
Lentol, Perry, Rivera, Rozic, Steck) -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to speed limits
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph 26 of subdivision (a) of section 1642 of the
2 vehicle and traffic law is renumbered paragraph 27 and a new paragraph
3 26 is added to read as follows:
4 26. (a) With respect to highways (which term for the purposes of this
5 paragraph shall include private roads open to public motor vehicle traf-
6 fic) in such city, other than state highways maintained by the state on
7 which the department of transportation shall have established higher or
8 lower speed limits than the statutory fifty-five miles per hour speed
9 limit as provided in section sixteen hundred twenty of this title, or on
10 which the department of transportation shall have designated that such
11 city shall not establish any maximum speed limit as provided in section
12 sixteen hundred twenty-four of this title, subject to the limitations
13 imposed by section sixteen hundred eighty-four of this title, establish-
14 ment of maximum speed limits at which vehicles may proceed within such
15 city or within designated areas of such city higher or lower than the
16 fifty-five miles per hour maximum statutory limit. No such speed limit
17 applicable throughout such city or within designated areas of such city
18 shall be established at less than twenty-five miles per hour, except
19 that school speed limits may be established at no less than fifteen
20 miles per hour pursuant to the provisions of section sixteen hundred
21 forty-three of this article.
22 (b) A city shall not lower a speed limit by more than five miles per
23 hour pursuant to this paragraph unless such city provides written notice
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15573-03-4
A. 10144 2
1 and an opportunity to comment to the community board or community boards
2 established pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred of the New York
3 city charter with jurisdiction over the area in which the lower speed
4 limit shall apply. Such notice may be provided by electronic mail and
5 shall be provided sixty days prior to the establishment of such lower
6 speed limit.
7 § 2. Paragraph 27 of subdivision (a) of section 1642 of the vehicle
8 and traffic law, as added by chapter 499 of the laws of 1999 and as
9 renumbered by section one of this act, is amended to read as follows:
10 27. (a) Establishment of maximum speed limits below twenty-five miles
11 per hour at which motor vehicles may proceed on or along designated
12 highways within such city for the explicit purpose of implementing traf-
13 fic calming measures as such term is defined herein; provided, however,
14 that no speed limit shall be set below fifteen miles per hour nor shall
15 such speed limit be established where the traffic calming measure to be
16 implemented consists solely of a traffic control sign. Establishment of
17 such a speed limit shall, where applicable, be in compliance with the
18 provisions of sections sixteen hundred twenty-four and sixteen hundred
19 eighty-four of this chapter. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to
20 alter or affect the establishment of school speed limits pursuant to the
21 provisions of section sixteen hundred forty-three of this article. For
22 the purposes of this paragraph, "traffic calming measures" shall mean
23 any physical engineering measure or measures that reduce the negative
24 effects of motor vehicle use, alter driver behavior and improve condi-
25 tions for non-motorized street users such as pedestrians and bicyclists.
26 (b) Any city establishing maximum speed limits below twenty-five miles
27 per hour pursuant to clause (i) of this subparagraph shall submit a
28 report to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the
29 speaker of the assembly on or before March first, two thousand [two]
30 fifteen and biannually thereafter on the results of using traffic calm-
31 ing measures and speed limits lower than twenty-five miles per hour as
32 authorized by this paragraph. This report shall also be made available
33 to the public by such city on its website. Such report shall include,
34 but not be limited to the following:
35 (i) a description of the designated highways where traffic calming
36 measures and a lower speed limit were established and
37 (ii) a description of the specific traffic calming measures used and
38 the maximum speed limit established[.] and
39 (iii) a comparison of the aggregate type, number, and severity of
40 accidents reported on streets on which street calming measures and lower
41 speed limits were implemented in the year preceding the implementation
42 of such measures and policies and the year following the implementation
43 of such measures and policies, to the extent this information is main-
44 tained by any agency of the state or the city.
45 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
46 have become a law.
