Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday proposed laws to permit New York Metropolis to decrease speed limits below 25 mph.
The pitch — specified by the governor’s State of the State speech — would alter present state legislation that forestalls the town Division of Transportation from setting speed limits below 25 mph in many of the metropolis, and 15 mph at school zones.
“Giving New York City the autonomy to change its speed limit can help the city determine how best to safeguard its own streets,” Hochul’s workplace wrote in a briefing.
The proposal is much like laws proposed in 2020 by Manhattan state Sen. Brad Hoylman that will give the town extra management over its speed limits. Hoylman named the invoice “Sammy’s Law,” after Samuel Cohen Eckstein, a 12-year-old who was killed by a driver on Prospect Park West in Brooklyn in 2013.
The coverage change has lengthy been supported by road security advocates, who level to analysis that exhibits decrease speed limits cut back lethal automotive crashes.
“Lower speed limits save lives,” stated Elizabeth Adams of the advocacy group Transportation Alternate options. She stated Hochul’s announcement amounted to an endorsement of “Sammy’s Law,” though the governor’s proposed laws could be a separate invoice from Hoylman’s.
A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams stated the administration helps Sammy’s Regulation.
Hochul’s help comes six months after she signed a state invoice to permit the town’s speed cameras to mechanically concern tickets 24/7. Earlier rules solely permitted the cameras to function from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m on weekdays.