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.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7266
SPONSOR: Rosenthal L 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 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 (Hoylimn): Died in Rules
A.4655-A of 2021-2022 (Gottfried): Died in Transportation
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
(1) https://wwwl.nyc.crov/asset.s/visionzero/down
Loads/pdVvision-zero-year-6-report.pdf
2 https://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2011 PedestianRi-
skVsSpeedReport.pdf
3 https://mpdc.dc.gov/page/spe(lIng-laws-fines-and-safety,4:-:
texteSpeeding%20Laws%2011 mph
4
httos://www.seattiorgov/visionzero/rules-of-the-road:-:text7Our%20Laws&
text-in%20Seattle%2C%20the%20speedo20limit,25%2OMPH%2C2Ouniess
20otherwis:S2Oposted
5 https://www.visienzero,com/soeedlim
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7266
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 16, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL, SIMONE, SIMON, CARROLL, SEAWRIGHT,
BURDICK, GALLAGHER, PAULIN, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, DINOWITZ, EPSTEIN, GLICK,
HEVESI, DAVILA, FORREST, THIELE, FAHY, McDONOUGH, BURGOS, SILLITTI,
JACKSON, MITAYNES, MAMDANI, KIM, J. A. GIGLIO, DE LOS SANTOS,
D. ROSENTHAL, CRUZ, GALLAHAN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Transportation
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
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "Sammy's law".
2 § 2. Paragraphs 26 and 27 of subdivision (a) of section 1642 of the
3 vehicle and traffic law, paragraph 26 as added and paragraph 27 as
4 amended by chapter 248 of the laws of 2014, are amended to read as
5 follows:
6 26. (a) With respect to highways (which term for the purposes of this
7 paragraph shall include private roads open to public motor vehicle traf-
8 fic) in such city, other than state highways maintained by the state on
9 which the department of transportation shall have established higher or
10 lower speed limits than the statutory fifty-five miles per hour speed
11 limit as provided in section sixteen hundred twenty of this title, or on
12 which the department of transportation shall have designated that such
13 city shall not establish any maximum speed limit as provided in section
14 sixteen hundred twenty-four of this title, subject to the limitations
15 imposed by section sixteen hundred eighty-four of this title, establish-
16 ment of maximum speed limits at which vehicles may proceed within such
17 city or within designated areas of such city higher or lower than the
18 fifty-five miles per hour maximum statutory limit. No such speed limit
19 applicable throughout such city or within designated areas of such city
20 shall be established at less than [twenty-five] twenty miles per hour,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02070-03-3
A. 7266 2
1 except that school speed limits may be established at no less than
2 fifteen miles per hour pursuant to the provisions of section sixteen
3 hundred forty-three of this article.
4 (b) A city shall not lower or raise a speed limit by more than five
5 miles per hour pursuant to this paragraph unless such city provides
6 written notice and an opportunity to comment to the community board or
7 community boards established pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred of
8 the New York city charter with jurisdiction over the area in which the
9 lower or higher speed limit shall apply. Such notice may be provided by
10 electronic mail and shall be provided sixty days prior to the establish-
11 ment of such lower or higher speed limit.
12 27. (a) Establishment of maximum speed limits below [twenty-five]
13 twenty miles per hour at which motor vehicles may proceed on or along
14 designated highways within such city for the explicit purpose of imple-
15 menting traffic calming measures as such term is defined herein;
16 provided, however, that no speed limit shall be set below [fifteen] ten
17 miles per hour nor shall such speed limit be established where the traf-
18 fic calming measure to be implemented consists solely of a traffic
19 control sign. Establishment of such a speed limit shall, where applica-
20 ble, be in compliance with the provisions of sections sixteen hundred
21 twenty-four and sixteen hundred eighty-four of this [chapter] title.
22 Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to alter or affect the estab-
23 lishment of school speed limits pursuant to the provisions of section
24 sixteen hundred forty-three of this article. For the purposes of this
25 paragraph, "traffic calming measures" shall mean any physical engineer-
26 ing measure or measures that reduce the negative effects of motor vehi-
27 cle use, alter driver behavior and improve conditions for non-motorized
28 street users such as pedestrians and bicyclists.
29 (b) Any city establishing maximum speed limits below [twenty-five]
30 twenty miles per hour pursuant to clause (i) of this subparagraph shall
31 submit a report to the governor, the temporary president of the senate
32 and the speaker of the assembly on or before March first, two thousand
33 fifteen and biannually thereafter on the results of using traffic calm-
34 ing measures and speed limits lower than [twenty-five] twenty miles per
35 hour as authorized by this paragraph. This report shall also be made
36 available to the public by such city on its website. Such report shall
37 include, but not be limited to the following:
38 (i) a description of the designated highways where traffic calming
39 measures and a lower speed limit were established [and];
40 (ii) a description of the specific traffic calming measures used and
41 the maximum speed limit established [and];
42 (iii) an explanation of the reasons for setting lower speed limits,
43 how those lower speed limits comply with engineering standards, and how
44 they will ensure that motor vehicles can operate at safe speeds in a
45 manner that optimizes all road users' safety and convenience; and
46 (iv) a comparison of the aggregate type, number, and severity of acci-
47 dents reported on streets on which street calming measures and lower
48 speed limits were implemented in the year preceding the implementation
49 of such measures and policies and the year following the implementation
50 of such measures and policies, to the extent this information is main-
51 tained by any agency of the state or the city.
52 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
