Assembly Member Dan O’Donnell Intros Bill to Set NYC Speed Limit at 20 MPH

Assembly Member Dan O’Donnell has introduced a bill to lower the speed limit in New York City to 20 miles per hour.

O’Donnell represents the Upper West Side, where two pedestrians have been killed by motorists in 2014. He attended the vigil held last night for Cooper Stock and Alexander Shear.

O’Donnell’s office released a statement this afternoon:

Last week, two tragedies in my district emphasized for me the overwhelming need to change traffic laws and prevent traffic fatalities in New York City. Already this year, in just over two weeks, there have been seven pedestrian deaths due to traffic accidents, including the death of a child. That horrific fact is why today I introduced A8478, which changes the New York City administrative code to set the city’s official speed limit at 20 miles per hour except where the City Council determines a different speed limit is appropriate. Studies have shown that pedestrians hit at speeds of 20 and lower have a dramatically higher chance of surviving an accident than those hit at speeds of 30 and above. I hope my bill will change the devastating rate of traffic deaths in the city, and contribute to Mayor de Blasio’s “Vision Zero” plan to prevent unsafe driving and end traffic fatalities.

As of now the bill doesn’t have cosponsors or a companion bill in the Senate, according to the Assembly web site.

O’Donnell’s bill is currently stronger than the similar bills introduced in the City Council last year, and as state legislation it would supersede equivalent city legislation. We’ll have more on the speed limit bill in future posts.