State Legislature

After two weeks, it's clear that NYC's new automated speed camera program needs much more leeway from Albany in order to wrestle the city's dangerous speeding problem under control.

State Senator Martin Malave Dilan, of Brooklyn, has introduced companion legislation to Assembly Member Dan O’Donnell's speed limit bill, which would set the maximum speed on NYC streets at 20 miles per hour, except on streets "where the City Council determines a different speed limit is appropriate."

The Daily News didn't need to send anyone to stand in traffic for man-on-the-street reaction quotes on Dan O'Donnell's bill to lower the speed limit in NYC to 20 miles per hour.

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

This afternoon, a coalition of more than 200 groups sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo [PDF] asking him to sign the transit lockbox bill, which would help safeguard dedicated transit funds by requiring the state to disclose the impact of any raids on transit agency budgets. The pressure is on: The governor has until the middle of next week to sign or veto the legislation.

Three years after Albany established the offense of careless driving, NYPD continues to apply the law in only a tiny fraction of crashes that result in the death or injury of pedestrians and cyclists.

You can thank Marty Golden for speed cameras now.

Proponents of safer streets and a stronger MTA fared better than usual in Albany this year, securing speed cameras for NYC and scoring a tentative win on the transit lockbox -- which now depends on Governor Cuomo's signature to protect straphangers from budget raids by state lawmakers, including himself. However, legislators failed to pass bills that would have restored speedier bus service to NYC and helped protect New Yorkers from motorists who injure and kill.

Details concerning New York City's first-ever speed camera program are scarce. To slow down as many speeding drivers as possible with the small number of cameras permitted by Albany, this is as it should be.