S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7266--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
May 16, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL, SIMONE, SIMON, CARROLL, SEAWRIGHT,
BURDICK, GALLAGHER, PAULIN, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, DINOWITZ, EPSTEIN, GLICK,
HEVESI, DAVILA, FORREST, THIELE, FAHY, McDONOUGH, BURGOS, SILLITTI,
JACKSON, MITAYNES, MAMDANI, KIM, J. A. GIGLIO, DE LOS SANTOS, CRUZ,
GALLAHAN, ARDILA, RAGA, ZACCARO, ANDERSON, SHIMSKY, REYES, SHRESTHA,
ALVAREZ, LEE, BORES, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, CUNNINGHAM, GIBBS, TAYLOR,
TAPIA, SEPTIMO, RAJKUMAR, CHANDLER-WATERMAN, K. BROWN, STIRPE, STECK,
RAMOS, MAHER, TAGUE, KELLES, BENEDETTO, LAVINE, RIVERA, CURRAN,
SLATER, ANGELINO, DiPIETRO, STERN, JACOBSON, CHANG, GUNTHER, SANTABAR-
BARA, RA, CLARK, OTIS, WOERNER, PRETLOW, McMAHON, BURKE, COLTON --
read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation -- recommit-
ted to the Committee on Transportation in accordance with Assembly
Rule 3, sec. 2 -- 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:
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
"Sammy's law".
§ 2. Paragraphs 26 and 27 of subdivision (a) of section 1642 of the
vehicle and traffic law, paragraph 26 as added and paragraph 27 as
amended by chapter 248 of the laws of 2014, are amended 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
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02070-24-4
A. 7266--A 2
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, establish-
ment 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] EXCEPT FOR HIGH-
WAYS THAT CONSIST OF THREE OR MORE THROUGH TRAVEL LANES IN THE SAME
DIRECTION, NO such speed limit applicable throughout such city or within
designated areas of such city shall be established at less than [twen-
ty-five] TWENTY miles per hour, [except] PROVIDED THAT THIS EXCEPTION
SHALL NOT APPLY IN A COUNTY WITH A POPULATION OF NO LESS THAN ONE
MILLION SIX HUNDRED NINETY-FOUR THOUSAND AND NO MORE THAN ONE MILLION
SIX HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE THOUSAND AS OF THE TWO THOUSAND TWENTY DECENNIAL
CENSUS, AND PROVIDED, FURTHER, that school speed limits may be estab-
lished at no less than fifteen miles per hour pursuant to the provisions
of section sixteen hundred forty-three of this article.
(b) A city shall not lower OR RAISE a speed limit [by more than five
miles per hour] pursuant to this paragraph 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 jurisdiction over the area in which the
lower OR HIGHER speed limit shall apply. Such notice may be provided by
electronic mail and shall be provided sixty days prior to the establish-
ment of such lower OR HIGHER speed limit.
27. (a) Establishment of maximum speed limits below [twenty-five]
TWENTY miles per hour at which motor vehicles may proceed on or along
designated highways within such city for the explicit purpose of imple-
menting traffic calming measures as such term is defined herein;
provided, however, that no speed limit shall be set below [fifteen] TEN
miles per hour nor shall such speed limit be established where the traf-
fic calming measure to be implemented consists solely of a traffic
control sign. Establishment of such a speed limit shall, where applica-
ble, be in compliance with the provisions of sections sixteen hundred
twenty-four and sixteen hundred eighty-four of this [chapter] TITLE.
Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to alter or affect the estab-
lishment of school speed limits pursuant to the provisions of section
sixteen hundred forty-three of this article. For the purposes of this
paragraph, "traffic calming measures" shall mean any physical engineer-
ing measure or measures that reduce the negative effects of motor vehi-
cle use, alter driver behavior and improve conditions for non-motorized
street users such as pedestrians and bicyclists.
(b) Any city establishing maximum speed limits below [twenty-five]
TWENTY miles per hour pursuant to clause (i) of this subparagraph 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 calm-
ing measures and speed limits lower than [twenty-five] TWENTY miles per
hour as authorized 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 [and];
(ii) a description of the specific traffic calming measures used and
the maximum speed limit established [and];
A. 7266--A 3
(iii) AN EXPLANATION OF THE REASONS FOR SETTING LOWER SPEED LIMITS,
HOW THOSE LOWER SPEED LIMITS COMPLY WITH ENGINEERING STANDARDS, AND HOW
THEY WILL ENSURE THAT MOTOR VEHICLES CAN OPERATE AT SAFE SPEEDS IN A
MANNER THAT OPTIMIZES ALL ROAD USERS' SAFETY AND CONVENIENCE; AND
(IV) a comparison of the aggregate type, number, and severity of acci-
dents reported on streets on which street calming measures and lower
speed limits were implemented in the year preceding the implementation
of such measures and policies and the year following the implementation
of such measures and policies, to the extent this information is main-
tained by any agency of the state or the city.
§ 3. 1. For the purpose of informing and educating persons who operate
motor vehicles in this state:
(a) Any law enforcement official authorized to issue appearance tick-
ets pursuant to the vehicle and traffic law may, during the six-month
period beginning on the effective date of this act, stop motor vehicles
and issue verbal warnings to persons who are in violation of the maximum
speed limits lowered by section two of this act, and who are traveling
at a speed of less than fifteen miles per hour over such maximum speed
limits.
(b) Any municipality authorized to issue appearance tickets by mail
where a jurisdiction has installed a photo speed monitoring system
pursuant to the vehicle and traffic law may, during the six-month period
beginning on the effective date of this act, issue written warnings to
persons who are in violation of the maximum speed limits lowered by
section two of this act, and who are traveling at a speed of less than
15 miles per hour over such maximum speed limits.
2. The department of transportation for the city of New York shall
implement an education campaign which shall, at a minimum:
(a) Alert drivers to the passage of this act;
(b) Educate drivers of the dangers of speeding, including the known
increases of fatalities and serious injuries in crashes involving a
vehicle traveling over 20 miles per hour; and
(c) Educate drivers of the dangers of crashes involving pedestrians.
3. The department of transportation for the city of New York shall
install additional signage around school zones that notifies drivers of
the speed limit.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
have become a law.