Senator Rachel May’s Safer Streets Bill for Pedestrians and Bicyclists Heads to Governor

Senator Rachel May’s (D-Onondaga, Madison, Oneida) safer streets bill, which allows cities, villages, and towns (outside NYC) to lower their speed limits to 25 miles per hour, passed both chambers of the legislature and will now head to the Governor’s desk for a signature. 

Senator May’s bill, S2021A, is a critical part of a bill package called the Crash Rights and Safety Act, which is designed to decrease traffic fatalities in New York State. May’s bill enables municipalities to create a safer environment for drivers, pedestrians, bike riders, and others by slowing down traffic. 

This bill passes as the NYS Safe Streets Coalition reports that traffic crashes, on average, kill three people in New York every day, and traffic fatalities are up 20 percent.

As a cyclist myself, I know how worrying it can be to use streets where speed limits are sometimes too high. I’m proud we could pass a critical tool needed to give local governments more flexibility to reduce speed limits and bring down traffic fatalities in New York State. Making streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and others is especially important as more people are looking for walkable places to live and work. — Senator Rachel May