STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4655--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GOTTFRIED, CARROLL, SEAWRIGHT, SIMON,
GONZALEZ-ROJAS, BURDICK, GALLAGHER, PAULIN, DINOWITZ, EPSTEIN, GLICK,
HEVESI, McDONOUGH, DAVILA -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Transportation -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
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,
21 except that school speed limits may be established at no less than
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03998-07-1
A. 4655--A 2
1 fifteen miles per hour pursuant to the provisions of section sixteen
2 hundred forty-three of this article.
3 (b) A city shall not lower or raise a speed limit by more than five
4 miles per hour pursuant to this paragraph unless such city provides
5 written notice and an opportunity to comment to the community board or
6 community boards established pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred of
7 the New York city charter with jurisdiction over the area in which the
8 lower or higher speed limit shall apply. Such notice may be provided by
9 electronic mail and shall be provided sixty days prior to the establish-
10 ment of such lower or higher speed limit.
11 27. (a) Establishment of maximum speed limits below [twenty-five]
12 twenty miles per hour at which motor vehicles may proceed on or along
13 designated highways within such city for the explicit purpose of imple-
14 menting traffic calming measures as such term is defined herein;
15 provided, however, that no speed limit shall be set below [fifteen] five
16 miles per hour nor shall such speed limit be established where the traf-
17 fic calming measure to be implemented consists solely of a traffic
18 control sign. Establishment of such a speed limit shall, where applica-
19 ble, be in compliance with the provisions of sections sixteen hundred
20 twenty-four and sixteen hundred eighty-four of this [chapter] title.
21 Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to alter or affect the estab-
22 lishment of school speed limits pursuant to the provisions of section
23 sixteen hundred forty-three of this article. For the purposes of this
24 paragraph, "traffic calming measures" shall mean any physical engineer-
25 ing measure or measures that reduce the negative effects of motor vehi-
26 cle use, alter driver behavior and improve conditions for non-motorized
27 street users such as pedestrians and bicyclists.
28 (b) Any city establishing maximum speed limits below [twenty-five]
29 twenty miles per hour pursuant to clause (i) of this subparagraph shall
30 submit a report to the governor, the temporary president of the senate
31 and the speaker of the assembly on or before March first, two thousand
32 fifteen and biannually thereafter on the results of using traffic calm-
33 ing measures and speed limits lower than [twenty-five] twenty miles per
34 hour as authorized by this paragraph. This report shall also be made
35 available to the public by such city on its website. Such report shall
36 include, but not be limited to the following:
37 (i) a description of the designated highways where traffic calming
38 measures and a lower speed limit were established and
39 (ii) a description of the specific traffic calming measures used and
40 the maximum speed limit established and
41 (iii) a comparison of the aggregate type, number, and severity of
42 accidents reported on streets on which street calming measures and lower
43 speed limits were implemented in the year preceding the implementation
44 of such measures and policies and the year following the implementation
45 of such measures and policies, to the extent this information is main-
46 tained by any agency of the state or the city.
47 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.