S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  7266--A
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 16, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL, SIMONE, SIMON, CARROLL, SEAWRIGHT,
   BURDICK, GALLAGHER, PAULIN, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, DINOWITZ, EPSTEIN,  GLICK,
   HEVESI,  DAVILA,  FORREST,  THIELE, FAHY, McDONOUGH, BURGOS, SILLITTI,
   JACKSON, MITAYNES, MAMDANI, KIM,  J. A. GIGLIO,  DE LOS SANTOS,  CRUZ,
   GALLAHAN,  ARDILA,  RAGA, ZACCARO, ANDERSON, SHIMSKY, REYES, SHRESTHA,
   ALVAREZ, LEE, BORES,  BICHOTTE HERMELYN,  CUNNINGHAM,  GIBBS,  TAYLOR,
   TAPIA,  SEPTIMO, RAJKUMAR, CHANDLER-WATERMAN, K. BROWN, STIRPE, STECK,
   RAMOS,  MAHER,  TAGUE,  KELLES,  BENEDETTO,  LAVINE,  RIVERA,  CURRAN,
   SLATER, ANGELINO, DiPIETRO, STERN, JACOBSON, CHANG, GUNTHER, SANTABAR-
   BARA,  RA,  CLARK,  OTIS,  WOERNER, PRETLOW, McMAHON, BURKE, COLTON --
   read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation -- recommit-
   ted to the Committee on Transportation  in  accordance  with  Assembly
   Rule  3,  sec.  2  --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
   reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
 
 AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to establishing
   speed limits in cities with  populations  in  excess  of  one  million
   people
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
 "Sammy's law".
   §  2.  Paragraphs  26 and 27 of subdivision (a) of section 1642 of the
 vehicle and traffic law, paragraph 26  as  added  and  paragraph  27  as
 amended  by  chapter  248  of  the  laws of 2014, are amended to read as
 follows:
   26. (a) With respect to highways (which term for the purposes of  this
 paragraph shall include private roads open to public motor vehicle traf-
 fic)  in such city, other than state highways maintained by the state on
 which the department of transportation shall have established higher  or
 lower  speed  limits  than the statutory fifty-five miles per hour speed
 limit as provided in section sixteen hundred twenty of this title, or on

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD02070-24-4
              

 A. 7266--A                          2
 
 which the department of transportation shall have designated  that  such
 city  shall not establish any maximum speed limit as provided in section
 sixteen hundred twenty-four of this title, subject  to  the  limitations
 imposed by section sixteen hundred eighty-four of this title, establish-
 ment  of  maximum speed limits at which vehicles may proceed within such
 city or within designated areas of such city higher or  lower  than  the
 fifty-five miles per hour maximum statutory limit. [No] EXCEPT FOR HIGH-
 WAYS  THAT  CONSIST  OF  THREE  OR MORE THROUGH TRAVEL LANES IN THE SAME
 DIRECTION, NO such speed limit applicable throughout such city or within
 designated areas of such city shall be established at less  than  [twen-
 ty-five]  TWENTY  miles  per hour, [except] PROVIDED THAT THIS EXCEPTION
 SHALL NOT APPLY IN A COUNTY WITH  A  POPULATION  OF  NO  LESS  THAN  ONE
 MILLION  SIX  HUNDRED  NINETY-FOUR THOUSAND AND NO MORE THAN ONE MILLION
 SIX HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE THOUSAND AS OF THE TWO THOUSAND TWENTY DECENNIAL
 CENSUS, AND PROVIDED, FURTHER, that school speed limits  may  be  estab-
 lished at no less than fifteen miles per hour pursuant to the provisions
 of section sixteen hundred forty-three of this article.
   (b)  A  city shall not lower OR RAISE a speed limit [by more than five
 miles per hour] pursuant to this paragraph  unless  such  city  provides
 written  notice  and an opportunity to comment to the community board or
 community boards established pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred of
 the New York city charter with jurisdiction over the area in  which  the
 lower  OR HIGHER speed limit shall apply. Such notice may be provided by
 electronic mail and shall be provided sixty days prior to the establish-
 ment of such lower OR HIGHER speed limit.
   27. (a) Establishment of  maximum  speed  limits  below  [twenty-five]
 TWENTY  miles  per  hour at which motor vehicles may proceed on or along
 designated highways within such city for the explicit purpose of  imple-
 menting  traffic  calming  measures  as  such  term  is  defined herein;
 provided, however, that no speed limit shall be set below [fifteen]  TEN
 miles per hour nor shall such speed limit be established where the traf-
 fic  calming  measure  to  be  implemented  consists solely of a traffic
 control sign.  Establishment of such a speed limit shall, where applica-
 ble, be in compliance with the provisions of  sections  sixteen  hundred
 twenty-four  and  sixteen  hundred  eighty-four of this [chapter] TITLE.
 Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to alter or affect  the  estab-
 lishment  of  school  speed limits pursuant to the provisions of section
 sixteen hundred forty-three of this article. For the  purposes  of  this
 paragraph,  "traffic calming measures" shall mean any physical engineer-
 ing measure or measures that reduce the negative effects of motor  vehi-
 cle  use, alter driver behavior and improve conditions for non-motorized
 street users such as pedestrians and bicyclists.
   (b) Any city establishing maximum  speed  limits  below  [twenty-five]
 TWENTY  miles per hour pursuant to clause (i) of this subparagraph shall
 submit a report to the governor, the temporary president of  the  senate
 and  the  speaker of the assembly on or before March first, two thousand
 fifteen and biannually thereafter on the results of using traffic  calm-
 ing  measures and speed limits lower than [twenty-five] TWENTY miles per
 hour as authorized by this paragraph. This report  shall  also  be  made
 available  to  the public by such city on its website. Such report shall
 include, but not be limited to the following:
   (i) a description of the designated  highways  where  traffic  calming
 measures and a lower speed limit were established [and];
   (ii)  a  description of the specific traffic calming measures used and
 the maximum speed limit established [and];
 A. 7266--A                          3
 
   (iii) AN EXPLANATION OF THE REASONS FOR SETTING  LOWER  SPEED  LIMITS,
 HOW  THOSE LOWER SPEED LIMITS COMPLY WITH ENGINEERING STANDARDS, AND HOW
 THEY WILL ENSURE THAT MOTOR VEHICLES CAN OPERATE AT  SAFE  SPEEDS  IN  A
 MANNER THAT OPTIMIZES ALL ROAD USERS' SAFETY AND CONVENIENCE; AND
   (IV) a comparison of the aggregate type, number, and severity of acci-
 dents  reported  on  streets  on which street calming measures and lower
 speed limits were implemented in the year preceding  the  implementation
 of  such measures and policies and the year following the implementation
 of such measures and policies, to the extent this information  is  main-
 tained by any agency of the state or the city.
   § 3. 1. For the purpose of informing and educating persons who operate
 motor vehicles in this state:
   (a)  Any law enforcement official authorized to issue appearance tick-
 ets pursuant to the vehicle and traffic law may,  during  the  six-month
 period  beginning on the effective date of this act, stop motor vehicles
 and issue verbal warnings to persons who are in violation of the maximum
 speed limits lowered by section two of this act, and who  are  traveling
 at  a  speed of less than fifteen miles per hour over such maximum speed
 limits.
   (b) Any municipality authorized to issue appearance  tickets  by  mail
 where  a  jurisdiction  has  installed  a  photo speed monitoring system
 pursuant to the vehicle and traffic law may, during the six-month period
 beginning on the effective date of this act, issue written  warnings  to
 persons  who  are  in  violation  of the maximum speed limits lowered by
 section two of this act, and who are traveling at a speed of  less  than
 15 miles per hour over such maximum speed limits.
   2.  The  department  of  transportation for the city of New York shall
 implement an education campaign which shall, at a minimum:
   (a) Alert drivers to the passage of this act;
   (b) Educate drivers of the dangers of speeding,  including  the  known
 increases  of  fatalities  and  serious  injuries in crashes involving a
 vehicle traveling over 20 miles per hour; and
   (c) Educate drivers of the dangers of crashes involving pedestrians.
   3. The department of transportation for the city  of  New  York  shall
 install  additional signage around school zones that notifies drivers of
 the speed limit.
   § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
 have become a law.