A07266 Summary:
| BILL NO | A07266A |
| SAME AS | SAME AS S02422-B |
| SPONSOR | Rosenthal L |
| COSPNSR | Simone, Simon, Carroll, Seawright, Burdick, Gallagher, Paulin, Gonzalez-Rojas, Dinowitz, Epstein, Glick, Hevesi, Davila, Forrest, Thiele, Fahy, McDonough, Sillitti, Jackson, Mitaynes, Mamdani, Kim, Giglio JA, De Los Santos, Cruz, Gallahan, Ardila, Raga, Zaccaro, Anderson, Shimsky, Reyes, Shrestha, Alvarez, Lee, Bores, Bichotte Hermelyn, Cunningham, Gibbs, Taylor, Tapia, Septimo, Rajkumar, Chandler-Waterman, Brown K, Stirpe, Steck, Ramos, Maher, Tague, Kelles, Benedetto, Lavine, Rivera, Curran, Slater, Angelino, DiPietro, Stern, Jacobson, Chang, Gunther, Santabarbara, Ra, Clark, Otis, Woerner, Pretlow, McMahon, Burke, Colton |
| MLTSPNSR | Cook |
| Amd 1642, V & T L | |
| Relates to establishing speed limits in cities with populations in excess of one million people by easing restrictions so cities can establish speed limits below twenty miles per hour. | |
A07266 Memo:
Go to topNEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to establishing speed limits in cities with populations in excess of one million people SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1 of the bill names the act "Sammy's Law." Section 2 of the bill amends section 1642 of the Vehicle & Traffic Law ("Additional traffic regulations in cities having a population in excess of one million") by: - Amending sub-paragraph 26(a) to authorize New York City to set a city- wide speed limit as low as 20 miles per hour. - Amending sub-paragraph 26(b) to require New York City to provide Writ- ten notice and an opportunity for public comment before a community board if the City raises a speed limit by more than 5 miles per hour. This is an expansion of an existing statutory requirement for notice and public comment if the City lowers a speed limit by more than 5 miles per hour. - Amending paragraph 27, authorizing New York City to set speed limits on specific streets as low as 10 MPH using traffic calming measures. Currently, the speed limit can be set as low as 15 MPH using such meas- ures. Section 3 of the bill establishes an education and outreach campaign to New York City drivers. Section 4 of the bill is the effective date. JUSTIFICATION: In 2014, the Legislature passed a law authorizing New York City to establish a 25 mile per hour speed limit throughout the City, with speed limits as low as 15 miles per hour in school zones and on streets where the City has implemented traffic calming measures to reduce the negative effects of motor vehicle use, alter driver behavior, and/or improve conditions for non-motorized street users such as pedestrians and bicy- clists. The 2014 law, a key component of New York City's Vision Zero initiative, has helped contribute to a 36% decline in pedestrian deaths at priority locations throughout the City. (1) Giving New York City the authority to reduce speed limits to as low as 20 MPH citywide or as low as 5 MPH with the implementation of traffic calming measures will give the City a flexible tool for making further progress toward the important goal of Vision Zero. According to a study by AAA, an estimated 30% of pedestri- ans struck by motor vehicles at an impact speed of 25 mph will sustain serious injury and about 12% will die. At impact speeds below 15 mph, most pedestrians who are struck (about 91%) do not sustain serious inju- ries, and fewer die. (2) By authorizing citywide speed limits as low as 20 miles per hour, New York City would join other dense American cities such as Washington, DC 3, Seattle, WA 4, and Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN 5. This bill is named in tribute to Sammy Cohen Eckstein, a 12-year- old boy who was struck and killed by a vehicle in Prospect Park, Brook- lyn in October 2013. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: S.0524-A of 2021-2022 (Hoylman): Died in Rules; A.4655-A of 2021-2022 (Gottfried): Died in Transportation FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: To be determined. EFFECTIVE DATE: 60 days. 1 https://wwwl.nyc.crov/assets/visionzero/down Loads/pdf/vision-zero-year-6-report.pdf 2 https://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2011 Pedestrian- RiskVsSpeedReport.pdf 3 https://mpdc.dc.gov/page/spe(lIng-laws-fines-and- safe- ty,4:-:texteSpeeding%20Laws%2011 mph 4 httos://www.seattiorgov/visionzero/rules- of-the-road:-:text-Our%20Laws&text-in%20Seattle%2C% 20the%20speedo20limit,25%2OMPH%2C2Ouniess 20otherwis:S2Oposted 5 https://www.visienzero,com/soeedlim