Prepare yourselves: lower speed limits and a bunch of a bunch of speed cameras are most likely about to hit NYC.
The Bill DeBlasio administration has been pushing a traffic safety initiative Vision Zero, originally devised in Sweden in the '90s. Part of the plan is to lower the default speed limit on New York's city streets from 30 to 25 mph.
For this plan to go forward, this bill needed to pass through the state Assembly and Senate and get signed by the governor. As of last week, the bill passed those first two steps, and Gothamist reports that Governor Cuomo will certainly give his signature soon.
This line in the bill gives the reasoning behind the speed reduction.
If a pedestrian is hit at 40 mph there is about a 7 in 10 chance of being killed. At 35 mph, there is a 5 in 10 chance of being killed. At 30 mph, there is a 1 in 5 chance of being killed. If the speed limit were lowered to 25 mph, the chance of an accident resulting in death drops significantly to 1 in 10. Another benefit to having a speed limit of 25 mph is the marked improvement in vehicle stopping distance. At 25 mph, stopping distance is improved by 45 feet (23%), which will allow many crashes to be avoided altogether.
Since nobody in New York follows the speed limit as it is, Gothamist reports we're getting 140 new speed cameras to ticket anyone going ten or more over the limit.
Read more on the bill and how communities have lost some ability to veto the stronger speed limits over at Gothamist.
Photo Credit: Raphael Orlove