BILL NUMBER:S6908

TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to enacting the traffic safety compliance act relative to
requests for and study of implementation of traffic control devices in
the city

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill sets forth the title of the bill as the "traffic
safety compliance act".

Section 2 of the bill amends Chapter 1 of title 19 of the administrative
code of the city of New York by adding a new subchapter 4 that will
require the following:

1. Section 19-190 will require an engineering study or intersection
control study pursuant to the requirements of the National Manual on
Uniform Traffic Control Devices ("MUTCD") to be completed within 3
months of receiving a request to implement a traffic control device.

2. Upon completion of the study the city department of transportation
("department") must prepare a written report detailing the analysis
completed during the study, including an explanation of the analysis of
criteria or warrants considered pursuant to the MUTCD. If a specific
location is deemed to fail the criteria and/or warrants, the written
              

report shall provide a detailed explanation of the reasons therefore.

3. A copy of the department's report shall be provided to the party or
parties that requested implementation of the traffic control device and
shall be available to the public without cost.

4. If the department determines that no traffic control device is
warranted, the requesting party shall be entitled to request a review of
the findings within sixty days of the date of the notification.  The
appealing party shall be entitled to submit new data with the appeal
that must be considered and addressed in a supplementary report. If
after consideration of the appeal the department still determines no
traffic control device is warranted, the commissioner shall refer the
matter to an independent advisory board to review the department's find-
ings. A copy of the advisory board's findings shall be forwarded to the
party or parties and the commissioner. If the advisory board's recommen-
dation is rejected by the commissioner the commissioner shall state the
reasons for such rejection in writing.

5. The advisory board shall consist of five members including the deputy
mayor for public safety or his or her assignee, the police commissioner
or his or her assignee, one person appointed by the commissioner, and
two residents appointed by the City Council.

5. After completion of the study pursuant to this section, the depart-
ment shall not be required to complete another study at the same
location for twelve months following.

6. Section 19-191, entitled "collection of accident data", will require
that in performance of the study required by section 19-190 the depart-
ment shall collect and consider accident data. In addition to informa-
tion received from the state police department accident index system and
individual accident reports, the department shall consider accident data
from the following sources: reports of accidents contained in affidavits
signed by members of the public and traffic accident data collected by
the state department of financial services as a result of automobile
insurance claims relating to traffic accidents. The state department of
financial services shall provide the department with data relating to
the occurrence of traffic accidents within the city with specific infor-
mation identifying the location of reported accidents.

Section 2 of the bill sets forth an effective of one hundred and eighty
days after it shall have become a law.

JUSTIFICATION:
According to the department, its determinations regarding the placement
of traffic control devices are based either in whole or in part upon the
federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices ("MUTCD") traffic
standards.

Although the MUTCD standards may set forth reasonable and necessary
assessments that must be made in determining a need for a traffic
control device, the department has failed on a regular basis to provide
any substantiation for determinations that a requested traffic control
device is "not warranted". There are numerous examples of intersections
throughout the city that are clearly in need of some type of traffic
control device, yet the department has deemed that no traffic control
device is warranted at that location with minimal, if any, explanation
of its analysis that led to such a finding.

In addition, it is also appears that much of the information used by the
department to make an assessment is inadequate at best. This includes
incomplete accident reports and/or statistics received from the police
department, which appear to be the sole group of statistics relied upon
by department. As a result, the department is incapable of making a
fully informed and reasonable decision on a particular request for a
traffic control device if it has insufficient evidence of accident
reports and/or statistics.

This legislation will require the department to complete a thorough and
timely engineering study pursuant to the requirements of the MUTCD and
to provide a detailed written report following completion of these
studies. It will also provide for an appeals process where a request for
a traffic control device has been deemed "not warranted" and ensures
that the ultimate determination of the department is fully explained and
disclosed to the public. The bill would also require the department to

compile additional accident data which would include affidavits from the
public. Veracity of these affidavits is insured by the existence of
current penal law provisions regarding the making of false statements or
providing false information of false testimony. Finally, the bill would
allow for renewed engineering studies to be commenced at a specific
location after 12 months, rather than the current 18 months.

Passage of the "traffic safety compliance act", will enhance the depart-
ment's compliance with the MUTCD and add much needed substantiation and
transparency to the department's determination process for the placement
of traffic control devices throughout the city.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Yet to be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after is
shall have become a law.