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Mar 25, 2023

Hate NYC’s low speed limits? They could get even lower (opinion)

If it were only that simple. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) STATEN

If it were only that simple. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – New York City is again looking to lower speed limits.

Yes, even lower than the default 25 mph put into effect by Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2014.

But the city needs permission from the state to do so. And that permission doesn't appear to be forthcoming. At least not right now.

The city has been pushing "Sammy's Law," which would allow the city to set speed limits below the state minimum of 25 mph. The city wants to be able to set speed limits at 20 mph.

The law, passed by the City Council, is named after Sammy Cohen Eckstein, 12, who was killed when struck by a motorist in Brooklyn in 2013.

Like all things Vision Zero, the speed limit effort is being made in the name of road safety. Advocates say that lower speed limits reduce the chance of death if someone is struck by a vehicle.

We all sympathize with Sammy's family. No parent should ever have to lose a child.

But as of April of this year, with all the Vision Zero measures already in place, including that 25 mph speed limit, traffic deaths were up 35 percent in the city compared to last year, according to the New York Post. This after traffic deaths rose each year from 2019 to 2021 before dropping in 2022.

That makes for a pretty spotty Vision Zero record in recent years, even with all the speed cameras (including now in highway work zones), red-light cameras, speed bumps, reduced speed limits and new traffic lights and stop signs popping up at intersections all over the place.

The Vision Zero program glaringly fails to take into account the particular conditions of individual accidents. Everything is laid at the feet of drivers. They are to blame. Because they were speeding.

Never mind the cyclists, scooter and electric bike riders who put themselves at risk by blowing through red lights and making illegal right turns at red lights. Or pedestrians who put themselves in harm's way by walking out from in between cars or fail to cross at the corner. We’ve all seen them.

No, it's always the driver who is at fault and curbing speeding is overwhelmingly the cure.

Broken record time: Speeding is not among the top causes of collisions in New York City, according to NYPD data. The top cause of collisions is distracted driving. But they haven't invented a camera to issue tickets for that yet.

Yet.

And you can bet that if New York City is granted the power to set its own speed limits, the speed limit will only continue to be lowered, even beyond 20 mph. Just look at how the speed camera program expanded from a limited school-zone effort to the round-the-clock network we see today.

And think about all the increased speed camera revenue that will flow from ever-lower speed limits.

In any event, it appears that the state Assembly won't take up "Sammy's Law" by the end of session next week, according to Streetsblog. And Albany has always been reluctant to cede any of the control it currently wields over New York City, so we’ll see what happens during the next session.

But don't expect the city's speed limit effort to end here.

MORE VISION ZERO OPINION FROM TOM WROBLESKI

How NYC rigs speed cameras to better rip off drivers (opinion)

Moving of Staten Island speed camera proves that we don't actually need speed cameras to improve safety (opinion)

Still NYC's most notorious speed camera (opinion)

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