Mayor de Blasio Signs Package of Life-Saving Traffic Safety Bills

Legislation will enhance safety efforts by the DOT, NYPD and TLC and further administration’s goal of eliminating traffic fatalities

Bills signed at recently upgraded Queens intersection, where 8-year-old Noshat Nahian was struck and killed in December, one of dozens of projects making streets safer

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.

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

Portions of the bill package were sponsored by Council Members Maria del Carmen Arroyo, Inez Barron, Fernando Cabrera, Margaret Chin, Andrew Cohen, Costa Constantinides, Elizabeth Crowley, Daniel Dromm, Rafael Espinal, Julissa Ferreras, Vincent Gentile, Vanessa L. Gibson, David G. Greenfield, Corey Johnson, Andy King, Ben Kallos, Peter Koo, Karen Koslowitz, Brad Lander, Rory Lancman, Stephen Levin, Mark Levine, Carlos Menchaca, Rosie Mendez, Annabel Palma, Antonio Reynoso, Donovan Richards, Ydanis Rodriguez, Deborah Rose, Helen Rosenthal, Ritchie Torres, Eric Ulrich, James Vacca, Paul Vallone, Jimmy Van Bramer, Mark Weprin, Jumaane D. Williams, and Ruben Wills.

Before the bill signing, the Mayor walked through a recently completed project at 61st Street where 8-year-old Noshat Nahian was struck and killed in December. The improvements include two new pedestrian islands to shorten crossing distances across Northern, more pedestrian-only crossing time and enhanced crosswalks and parking regulations to provide greater visibility. DOT is working with the community on a larger project that will bring similar improvements to the stretch of Northern between 62nd and 102nd streets later this year. Northern Boulevard will soon become one of the first 13 Arterial Slow Zones, with the speed limit lowered from 30 to 25 mph, paired with enhanced signage and greater enforcement efforts.

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.

P.S. 152

33-52 62nd Street,Queens

June 23, 2014