Legislative Package For Safer Streets
During a ceremony in Woodside on Monday, June 23, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed several street safety bills to support the Vision Zero Initiative aimed at eliminating trafficrelated fatalities.
The mayor held the bill-signing ceremony at the newly redesigned intersection of Northern Boulevard and 61st Street, where an eight-yearold boy, Noshat Nahian, was struck and killed in December 2013.
At about 8 a.m. that morning, Nahian was hit by an unlicensed driver after he made a left onto Northern Boulevard, police and witnesses said.
De Blasio was joined by Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, NYPD Chief of Transportation Thomas Chan and City Council Members to announce the legislation that supports the city’s Vision Zero initiative by improving traffic data collection and enforcement efforts, codifying safety engineering requirements and updating penalties for dangerous driving, a statement said.
The mayor also said he was pleased the state legislature had passed an item that alows the city to lower its default speed limit from 25 to 30 mph, the statement said. He believes this change will reduce chronic speeding, reportedly a major factor in fatal crashes in the city.
“We have promised the people of this city that we will use every tool we have to make streets safer,” de Blasio said. 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. Theres is so much more work to do, both here in the five boroughs and up in Albany.”
The legislation package signed by de Blasio included the following;
– Intro 43A: Requires DOT to study left turns and produce a report every five years.
– Intro 26A: Requires DOT 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 to 20 mph near 50 schools annually.
– Intro 167A: Prohibits stunt driving behavior on motorcycles.
– Intro 168A: Requires the DOT to study arterial roadways and produce a report every five years.
– Intro 171A. Requires the Taxi and Limousine Commission (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 TLC licensed vehicles.
“The passage of today’s bills will bring us closer to making Vision Zero a reality in every neighborhood in the City of New York,” City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer said. I am proud to have worked closely with my colleagues in the city council to produce a comprehensive package of legislation that effectively puts an end to an epidemic of traffic fatalities and will help reduce the amount of serious injuries our city has experienced for far too long.”
Prior to the signing, the mayor toured the recently completed safety improvements at the intersection. These included two new pedestrian islands to shorten crossing distances, more pedestrian-only crossing time and enhanced crosswalks and parking regulations to provide greater visibility, the statement said.
The DOT is working on a larger project to bring similar improvements to Northern Boulevard between 62nd and 102nd Streets later this year, according to reports.
Northern Boulevard is also scheduled to become one of the first 13 arterial slow zones in the borough, where the speed limits are lowered from 30 to 25 mph. and enhanced signage is paired with increased enforcement, according to the DOT.
