Mayor Bill de Blasio today visited the site of a newly redesigned intersection in Queens to sign a package of vital legislation that will make streets safer across the five boroughs.
Joined by Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, NYPD Chief of Transportation Thomas Chan, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and members of the City Council, the Mayor signed 11 bills supporting the City’s Vision Zero initiative by enhancing traffic data collection and enforcement efforts, codifying safety engineering commitments, and updating the city’s legal code to enhance penalties for dangerous driving. The Mayor also praised legislative leaders in Albany for passing legislation last week that empowers the City to lower its default speed limit from 30 to 25 miles per hour, a measure that will help reduce chronic speeding—a leading factor in fatal traffic crashes in New York City.
“We have promised the people of this city that we will use every tool we have to make streets safer. Today is another step on our path to fulfilling that promise, and sparing more families the pain of losing a son, a daughter, or a parent in a senseless tragedy. There is much more work ahead, both here in the five boroughs and up in Albany. But today, we thank the families, advocates, and City Council members who have taken up this cause and helped us better protect our fellow New Yorkers,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“These bills are going to go a long way toward keeping New Yorkers safe on the streets. This bill signing is the culmination of countless public forums, hearings chaired by Council Transportation Committee Chairman Ydanis Rodriguez, and public input in all five boroughs and is a process New Yorkers can be proud of. I would like to thank Mayor de Blasio for his leadership, along with Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, and other members of the administration for making street safety a priority,” said City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.
“With the stroke of the Mayor’s pen today, we are making New York City a safer place to drive, bike and walk. All of these laws will help to significantly reduce the number of traffic collisions and put us well on our way to reaching our goal of zero fatalities. I am proud to have two pieces of legislation in this package, one which requires that crash data involving TLC vehicles be reported and available to the public, and the other which ensures that collisions involving a TLC-licensed driver that result in critical injury or death will always be investigated by the commission and never fall through the cracks. I look forward to continuing to work with Mayor Bill de Blasio, Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, and Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to make our streets safer,” said Council Member James Vacca.
The package of traffic safety bills signed by the Mayor today are:
- Intro 43A: Requires DOT to study left turns and produce a report every five years
- Intro 46A: Requires DOT to respond to address major traffic signal issues within 24 hours
- Intro 80A: Requires DOT to produce a report on work zone safety guidelines on bridges
- Intro 140A: Requires DOT to install seven Neighborhood Slow Zones in 2014 and 2015 and lower speeds to 15-20 mph near 50 schools annually
- Intro 167A: Prohibits stunt behaviors on motorcycles
- Intro 168A: Requires DOT to study arterial roadways and produce a report every five years
- Intro 171A (“Cooper’s Law”): Requires TLC to suspend a driver involved in a crash in which a person is critically injured or dies, and where the driver receives a summons for any related traffic violation
- Intro 174A: Requires TLC to review crashes where critical injury or death resulted
- Intro 238A: Establishes penalties for vehicles that fail to yield to pedestrians and bicyclists
- Intro 272A: Amends the TLC Critical Driver and Persistent Violator programs to add points to TLC and DMV licenses
- Intro 277A: Requires TLC to report quarterly crash data involving taxi and limousine commission licensed vehicles
The NYPD and DOT are also co-hosting a continuing series of nine workshops across all five boroughs in partnership with the City Council to allow the public to learn more about the Vision Zero blueprint and contribute to the development of safety plans for each borough. Through that engagement process, agencies have documented 13,000 safety improvement suggestions and comments since last month.
For more information on all of the administration’s traffic safety efforts, please visit www.nyc.gov/visionzero.
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