NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1007A
SPONSOR: Paulin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to authorizing
cities, villages and towns to reduce the speed limit to twenty-five
miles per hour
PURPOSE:
To afford cities, villages and towns the option to set its maximum speed
limit at 25mph.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends section 1643 of the vehicle and traffic law to allow
any city or village to establish a maximum speed limit of 25mph.
Section two amends section 1662-a of the vehicle and traffic law to
allow a town to establish a maximum speed limit of 25mph.
Section three amends subdivision two of section 1622 of the vehicle and
traffic law to provide that no speed limits along all such highways
lying within an area or areas as designated by a description of the
boundaries of such area or areas submitted by the county superintendent
of highways of a county and the town board of the town or towns affected
shall be established at less than 25mph.
Section four provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Research shows that faster driving speeds correlate to more serious
injuries and fatalities for pedestrians in the event of an accident.
The faster a vehicle is traveling, the less time its driver will have to
see a pedestrian in the road and stop, and the less time a pedestrian
will have to react. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety,
a pedestrian struck by a vehicle going 25mph has a 25 percent risk of
sustaining a serious or fatal injury, a 50 percent risk at 33mph and a
75 percent risk at 41mph.
A 2018 study released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
found that lowering the speed limit by 5 mph on city streets improves
safety outcomes for motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists by reducing
the incidence of speeding. The study focused on Boston, which in 2017
lowered its default speed limit on city streets from 30mph to 25mph.
Researchers found that after the city lowered its speed limit, the esti-
mated odds of a vehicle exceeding 35mph fell by 29.3 percent. Also, the
odds of a vehicle exceeding 30mph fell by 8.5 percent and by 2.9 percent
of exceeding 25mph. These reduced speeds will help to curb the city's
incidence of serious injuries and fatalities in pedestrian involved
accidents.
In 2014, New York City lowered its speed limit from 30mph to 25mph, as
part of a program known as "Vision Zero," aimed at ending all traffic
related deaths and serious injuries in the city by 2024. To date, the
three years following implementation of the program have been studied
and the number of traffic related fatalities declined for these three
consecutive years and went down 23 percent overall.
This bill would afford cities, towns and villages in the state the
option to set its maximum speed limit at 25mph. Under current law, the
default maximum speed limit throughout a city, town or village may not
be set lower than 30mph. Research proves that the public's safety bene-
fits when speed limits are lowered and municipalities should be granted
the authority to take this proactive step to help decrease fatalities
and the severity of injuries that can result from speed related acci-
dents. Reducing speed limits is an efficient, simple solution to protect
the public and prevent tragedies.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.8599, 2019 and 2020, referred to transportation Same as S.7738-a,
2020, referred to transportation.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1007--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 7, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, DINOWITZ, JACOBSON, WOERNER, THIELE,
WALCZYK, MORINELLO, BYRNES, GOTTFRIED, McDONOUGH, RA, SMULLEN, FAHY,
STECK, KELLES, DURSO, McMAHON, FORREST, HEVESI, SIMON, BURDICK, FRON-
TUS, CRUZ, GLICK, NORRIS, SALKA, DE LOS SANTOS, GONZALEZ-ROJAS --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. COOK -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Transportation -- recommitted to the Committee on Trans-
portation in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to authorizing
cities, villages and towns to reduce the speed limit to twenty-five
miles per hour
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1643 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by
2 chapter 412 of the laws 2012, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 1643. Speed limits on highways in cities and villages. The legisla-
4 tive body of any city or village with respect to highways (which term
5 for the purposes of this section shall include private roads open to
6 public motor vehicle traffic) in such city or village, other than state
7 highways maintained by the state on which the department of transporta-
8 tion shall have established higher or lower speed limits than the statu-
9 tory fifty-five miles per hour speed limit as provided in section
10 sixteen hundred twenty of this title, or on which the department of
11 transportation shall have designated that such city or village shall not
12 establish any maximum speed limit as provided in section sixteen hundred
13 twenty-four of this title, subject to the limitations imposed by section
14 sixteen hundred eighty-four of this title may by local law, ordinance,
15 order, rule or regulation establish maximum speed limits at which vehi-
16 cles may proceed within such city or village, within designated areas of
17 such city or village or on or along designated highways within such city
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02142-02-2
A. 1007--A 2
1 or village higher or lower than the fifty-five miles per hour maximum
2 statutory limit. No such speed limit applicable throughout such city or
3 village or within designated areas of such city or village shall be
4 established at less than [thirty] twenty-five miles per hour; except
5 that in the city of Long Beach, in the county of Nassau, speed limits
6 may be established at not less than fifteen miles per hour on any
7 portion of the following highways in such city: Cleveland avenue, Hard-
8 ing avenue, Mitchell avenue, Belmont avenue, Atlantic avenue, Coolidge
9 avenue, Wilson avenue and Taft avenue. No such speed limit applicable on
10 or along designated highways within such city or village shall be estab-
11 lished at less than twenty-five miles per hour, except that school speed
12 limits may be established at not less than fifteen miles per hour, for a
13 distance not to exceed one thousand three hundred twenty feet, on a
14 highway passing a school building, entrance or exit of a school abutting
15 on the highway and except that within the cities of Buffalo and Roches-
16 ter speed limits may be established at not less than fifteen miles per
17 hour for any portion of a highway within a city park. No speed limits
18 shall be established pursuant to the provisions of this section except
19 in accordance with the engineering considerations and factors for speed
20 limits set forth in the manual and specifications for a uniform system
21 of traffic control devices maintained by the commissioner of transporta-
22 tion pursuant to section sixteen hundred eighty of this title, as such
23 manual and specifications may be amended from time to time, certified by
24 a licensed professional engineer who specializes in traffic operations.
25 § 2. Section 1662-a of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by
26 chapter 405 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
27 § 1662-a. Speed limits in certain towns. The town board of any subur-
28 ban town governed pursuant to article three-A of the town law and the
29 town board of any other town having a population exceeding fifty thou-
30 sand, with respect to highways (which term for the purposes of this
31 section shall include private roads open to public motor vehicle traf-
32 fic) in such towns outside any village, other than state highways main-
33 tained by the state on which the department of transportation shall have
34 established higher or lower speed limits than the statutory fifty-five
35 miles per hour speed limit as provided in section sixteen hundred twenty
36 of this title, or on which the department of transportation shall have
37 designated that such towns shall not establish any maximum speed limit
38 as provided in section sixteen hundred twenty-four of this title,
39 subject to the limitations imposed by section sixteen hundred eighty-
40 four of this title may by local law, ordinance, order, rule or regu-
41 lation establish maximum speed limits at which vehicles may proceed
42 within such towns, within designated areas of such towns or on or along
43 designated highways within such towns lower than the fifty-five miles
44 per hour maximum statutory limit. No such speed limit applicable
45 throughout such towns or within designated areas of such towns shall be
46 established at less than [thirty] twenty-five miles per hour, except
47 that in the town of Hempstead speed limits may be established at not
48 less than fifteen miles per hour on any portion of a highway in the
49 community known as Point Lookout and on all or any portion of the
50 following highways in the community known as Lido Beach: Ocean Boule-
51 vard, Allevard Street, Bath Street, Buxton Street, Cheltenham Street,
52 Pinehurst Street, Harrogate Street, Matlock Street, Nantwick Street,
53 Biarritz Street, Royat Street, Luchon Street, Woodhail Street, Leaming-
54 ton Street, Saratoga Street, Kensington Street, and Prescott Street;
55 provided, however, that no such speed limit in such town may be estab-
56 lished unless a majority of the residents of each such community file a
A. 1007--A 3
1 petition with the town board of such town requesting such speed limit.
2 No such speed limit applicable on or along designated highways within
3 such towns shall be established at less than twenty-five miles per hour,
4 except that school speed limits may be established at not less than
5 fifteen miles per hour, for a distance not to exceed one thousand three
6 hundred twenty feet, on a highway passing a school building, entrance or
7 exit of a school abutting on the highway, and except further that in the
8 town of Hempstead speed limits may be established at not less than
9 fifteen miles per hour on any portion of a highway in the communities
10 known as Point Lookout and Lido Beach; provided, however, that no such
11 speed limit in such town may be established unless a majority of the
12 residents of each such community file a petition with the town board of
13 such town requesting such speed limit. No speed limits shall be estab-
14 lished pursuant to the provisions of this section except in accordance
15 with the engineering considerations and factors for speed limits set
16 forth in the manual and specifications for a uniform system of traffic
17 control devices maintained by the commissioner of transportation pursu-
18 ant to section sixteen hundred eighty of this title, as such manual and
19 specifications may be amended from time to time, certified by a licensed
20 professional engineer who specializes in traffic operations.
21 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 1622 of the vehicle and traffic law, as
22 amended by chapter 83 of the laws of 1969, is amended to read as
23 follows:
24 2. Establish maximum speed limits at which vehicles may proceed on or
25 along all such highways lying within an area or areas as designated by a
26 description of the boundaries of such area or areas submitted by the
27 county superintendent of highways of a county and the town board of the
28 town or towns affected lower than fifty-five miles per hour statutory
29 maximum speed limit. No such limit shall be established at less than
30 [thirty] twenty-five miles per hour.
31 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
