After a spike traffic deaths during the course of the pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo says state and local police departments are going to be cracking down on motorists who violate speed limits.
According to the governor’s office, unsafe speed was a contributing factor in 34 percent of fatal crashes between January and May compared to 30 percent during the same period the year before. This data comes from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research, part of the University at Albany’s Rockefeller College.
“Speed limits are not a suggestion; they are the law and they save lives,” said Governor Cuomo. “There is no excuse for driving at high speeds. It’s unnecessary and endangers everyone on the road, and I urge New Yorkers to be smart and slow down because it’s not worth risking lives to save a few seconds on your next commute or trip to the store.”
This information complements an Independent Budget Office report released in July. It claims that 77 percent of all summonses were for speed at the start of the pandemic. The IBO report compared March 1 through March 22 with just under 15,000 speed camera violations to an over two-month period on lockdown which saw over 22,000 issued.
During the pandemic, however, empty streets may have been a contributing factor to the uptick in speeding violations and June would become the deadliest month for traffic deaths in nearly two years in the five boroughs with 29 fatalities on New York City roadways, four of which were cyclists.
The Cuomo administration plans to step up enforcement with increased patrols as well as an information campaign backed up by State Police Superintendent Keith Corlett and state Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez.
This story originally appeared on amny.com.
