NY State Senate Bill 2013-S7891

Senate Bill S7891

2013-2014 Legislative Session

Relates to speed limits and providing notice to community boards regarding the lowering of certain speed limits

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jun 17, 2014	referred to rules

2013-S7891 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Vehicle and Traffic Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §1642, V & T L

2013-S7891 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to speed limits and providing notice to community boards regarding the lowering of certain speed limits.

2013-S7891 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S7891

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation
to speed limits; and to provide for notice to community boards regarding
the lowering of certain speed limits

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:  This bill amends section 1642 of the New York
State Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) to allow the City of New York to
establish a 25 mile per hour (mph) citywide speed limit. It also
requires notice and public comment period to be provided to community
board or community boards within whose jurisdictions the area lies whose
speed is to be reduced by 5mph or more from current levels. Furthermore,
it requires that should such area fall within the jurisdiction of more
than one community board, the City of New York may establish a speed
limit only by local law. The bill also includes reporting requirements.

REASONS FOR SUPPORT:  Mayor de Blasio recently released a detailed
report outlining the City's "Vision Zero" action plan, which calls for
the implementation of several traffic safety initiatives to reduce
preventable pedestrian and motorist fatalities. This report highlights
an unfortunate reality - each year in New York City over 2.50 people are
killed and nearly 4,000 are seriously injured in traffic crashes.  Cras-
hes often have multiple contributing factors including speeding, driver
inattention, and failure to yield to pedestrians.

A multi-faceted approach is needed to address these dangerous driving

habits, especially excessive speeding. That is why the City has commit-
ted to pursuing several safety enhancements such as rapidly implementing
engineering improvements at intersections, increasing speed enforcement
on arterial streets and establishing new neighborhood slow zones. While
these actions represent meaningful progress, the City needs additional
tools that are impactful enough to significantly reduce the number of
serious injuries and fatalities on City streets. One particularly power-
ful tool is the ability to establish a 25 mph speed limit in the City,
which can be the catalyst in curbing dangerous driver behavior.

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.

To illustrate this point, one needs to consider the following facts:  if
a pedestrian is hit at 40 mph there is about a 7 in 10 chance of being
killed. At 35 mph, there is a 5 in 10 chance of being killed.  At 30
mph, there is a 1 in 5 chance of being killed. If the speed limit were
lowered to 2.5 mph, the chance of an accident resulting in death drops
significantly to 1 in 10.

Another benefit to having a citywide default 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.

City streets must meet the demands of vehicles, buses, cyclists and
pedestrians simultaneously. Being able to lower the speed limit to 25
mph would help ensure a harmonious relationship among all who traverse
City streets and greatly increase the City's ability to keep everyone
safe.

Where an even lower speed limit is warranted, on streets where traffic
calming measures are not feasible, the City can improve this relation-
ship even further by establishing a 20 mph speed limit.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

The ninetieth day after it shall have become law.

2013-S7891 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  7891

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              June 16, 2014
                               ___________

Introduced  by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- read twice and ordered printed, and
  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

AN ACT to amend the vehicle  and  traffic  law,  in  relation  to  speed
  limits;  and  to  provide for notice to community boards regarding the
  lowering of certain speed limits

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Paragraph  26  of  subdivision (a) of section 1642 of the
vehicle and traffic law is renumbered paragraph 27 and a  new  paragraph
26 is added to read as follows:
  26.  (A) WITH RESPECT TO HIGHWAYS (WHICH TERM FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS
PARAGRAPH SHALL INCLUDE PRIVATE ROADS OPEN TO PUBLIC MOTOR VEHICLE TRAF-
FIC) IN SUCH CITY, OTHER THAN STATE HIGHWAYS MAINTAINED BY THE STATE  ON
WHICH  THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SHALL HAVE ESTABLISHED HIGHER OR
LOWER SPEED LIMITS THAN THE STATUTORY FIFTY-FIVE MILES  PER  HOUR  SPEED
LIMIT AS PROVIDED IN SECTION SIXTEEN HUNDRED TWENTY OF THIS TITLE, OR ON
WHICH  THE  DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SHALL HAVE DESIGNATED THAT SUCH
CITY SHALL NOT ESTABLISH ANY MAXIMUM SPEED LIMIT AS PROVIDED IN  SECTION
SIXTEEN  HUNDRED  TWENTY-FOUR  OF THIS TITLE, SUBJECT TO THE LIMITATIONS
IMPOSED BY SECTION SIXTEEN HUNDRED EIGHTY-FOUR OF THIS TITLE, OR ON  NEW
YORK CITY ROUTES AS DEFINED IN SECTION THREE HUNDRED FORTY-NINE-F OF THE
HIGHWAY LAW, ESTABLISHMENT OF MAXIMUM SPEED LIMITS AT WHICH VEHICLES MAY
PROCEED  WITHIN SUCH CITY OR WITHIN DESIGNATED AREAS OF SUCH CITY HIGHER
OR LOWER THAN THE FIFTY-FIVE MILES PER HOUR MAXIMUM STATUTORY LIMIT.  NO
SUCH  SPEED  LIMIT  APPLICABLE THROUGHOUT SUCH CITY OR WITHIN DESIGNATED
AREAS OF SUCH CITY SHALL BE ESTABLISHED AT LESS THAN  TWENTY-FIVE  MILES
PER HOUR.
  (B)  A CITY SHALL NOT LOWER A SPEED LIMIT EXISTING WITHIN SUCH CITY AS
OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS PARAGRAPH BY FIVE MILES PER HOUR  OR  MORE
UNLESS  SUCH  CITY PROVIDES WRITTEN NOTICE AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT
TO THE COMMUNITY BOARD  OR  COMMUNITY  BOARDS  ESTABLISHED  PURSUANT  TO
SECTION TWENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED OF THE NEW YORK CITY CHARTER WITH JURISDIC-
TION  OVER  THE  AREA  IN WHICH SUCH LOWER SPEED LIMIT SHALL APPLY. SUCH
CITY MAY PROVIDE SUCH NOTICE BY ELECTRONIC MAIL AND SHALL  PROVIDE  SUCH

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                           LBD15611-04-4

S. 7891                             2

NOTICE  NO LESS THAN SIXTY DAYS PRIOR TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SUCH LOWER
SPEED LIMIT.  SUCH CITY SHALL NOT, UNLESS BY LOCAL LAW,  LOWER  A  SPEED
LIMIT  EXISTING  WITHIN SUCH CITY AS OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS PARA-
GRAPH  BY FIVE MILES PER HOUR OR MORE WHERE THE AREA IN WHICH SUCH LOWER
SPEED LIMIT SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FALLS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION  OF  MORE
THAN ONE COMMUNITY BOARD.
  (C)  A  CITY  ESTABLISHING MAXIMUM SPEED LIMITS BELOW THIRTY MILES PER
HOUR PURSUANT TO SUBPARAGRAPH (A)  OF  THIS  PARAGRAPH  SHALL  SUBMIT  A
REPORT  TO  THE  GOVERNOR, THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE
SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY ON OR BEFORE MARCH FIRST, TWO THOUSAND  FIFTEEN,
AND  BIANNUALLY THEREAFTER ON THE RESULTS OF USING TRAFFIC CALMING MEAS-
URES AND SPEED LIMITS LOWER THAN TWENTY-FIVE MILES PER HOUR  AS  AUTHOR-
IZED  BY THIS PARAGRAPH. THIS REPORT SHALL ALSO BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE
PUBLIC BY SUCH CITY ON ITS WEBSITE. SUCH REPORT SHALL INCLUDE,  BUT  NOT
BE LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING:
  (I)  A  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE DESIGNATED HIGHWAYS WHERE TRAFFIC CALMING
MEASURES AND A LOWER SPEED LIMIT WERE ESTABLISHED,
  (II) A DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIFIC TRAFFIC CALMING MEASURES  USED  AND
THE MAXIMUM SPEED LIMIT ESTABLISHED, AND
  (III)  A  COMPARISON  OF  THE  AGGREGATE TYPE, NUMBER, AND SEVERITY OF
CRASHES REPORTED ON STREETS ON WHICH TRAFFIC CALMING MEASURES AND  LOWER
SPEED  LIMITS  WERE IMPLEMENTED IN THE YEAR PRECEDING THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF SUCH TRAFFIC CALMING MEASURES AND SPEED LIMITS AND THE YEAR FOLLOWING
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUCH TRAFFIC CALMING MEASURES AND SPEED LIMITS, TO
THE EXTENT THIS INFORMATION IS MAINTAINED BY ANY AGENCY OF THE STATE  OR
THE CITY.
  S  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law.

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