Changes would extend and expand speed enforcement cameras, escalate fines and revoke vehicle registrations for worst offenders, and require DMV notification of medical incidents that cause a driver to lose vehicle control
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new package of State legislation to keep dangerous drivers from getting behind the wheel. Following last week’s crash that claimed the lives of two children in Park Slope, the City is seeking to extend and expand its speed enforcement camera program, escalate fines and suspend the vehicle registrations of repeat offenders, and require physicians to notify the DMV following medical events that could cause a driver to lose control of their vehicle.
“In the wrong hands, a car can be a deadly weapon. We are fighting on every front to make our streets safer, but we need Albany’s help to keep dangerous drivers off the road, before we lose another life,” said Mayor de Blasio.
“The NYPD continues to make New York City streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers, resulting in the fewest traffic fatalities ever last year,” said Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill. “This proposed legislation would provide us with additional tools to enhance safety, enforce the law, and keep dangerous drivers off the street.”
“After last week’s tragedy in Park Slope, we must act to prevent future tragedies—whether via legislation, street redesign or enforcement,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “Through the Mayor’s leadership we are continuing our fight for a range of state legislation to tackle dangerous driving, including more school zone speed cameras. Despite complaints about speeding along 9th Street in Park Slope, current law does not allow us to put a speed camera there. With more enforcement tools at our disposal, the Administration’s Vision Zero agencies can continue doing more important work—like the Dusk and Darkness campaign that just ended – that are helping reduce fatalities.”
The Mayor also announced the results of the second year of the Vision Zero Dusk and Darkness campaign, a partnership between DOT, NYPD and TLC to reduce pedestrian crashes during the fall and winter evening hours that are most dangerous to pedestrians. In the most recent four-month period of this initiative that ended last week, pedestrian traffic fatalities dropped by 24 percent compared to the prior year.
Proposed Changes to State Law
Extend & Expand School Zone Speed Camera Program: The Mayor will push for the State Legislature to pass S6046/A7798 to expand the City’s speed camera program. Speed cameras have been proven to reduce speeding in school zones by 63%. This bill would authorize the City to install speed cameras at an additional 150 school zones and would also revise the definition of a school zone to allow DOT to address speeding on streets that are near a school, as opposed to only the street or streets on which a school is located. Under current law, 75 percent of children who are killed or severely injured in a traffic crash are struck at times or places at which a speed camera cannot be activated.
Fee Escalation and Registration Suspension for Photo Violations: The Mayor will ask the Legislature to introduce legislation escalating the fees on red light and speed camera violations. Currently, there is a flat $50 fine for any photo violation, and fines do not increase with recurring violations. Insurers are prohibited from using camera violation data when setting rates. This proposal would escalate fines for multiple violations within a 2-year period as follows:
| Number of Red Light and Speed Camera Violations | Fines | Approximate Vehicles in This Class FY 16-17 |
| 1st | $50.00 | 949272 |
| 2nd | $50.00 | 298952 |
| 3rd | $150.00 | 121393 |
| 4th | $250.00 | 55469 |
| 5th | $300 + insurance informed | 27838 |
| 6th or more | $350 + registration suspended | 34134 |
Require Physicians to Notify the DMV Following Specific Medical Events: The Mayor also proposes requiring physicians to report certain medical conditions or incidents that may cause a driver to suddenly lose consciousness. This law would be narrowly tailored to those drivers at highest risk of losing consciousness or vehicle control, and will be modeled on a longstanding law in place in New Jersey and other states.
Dusk and Darkness
The Mayor also announced the results of the Dusk and Darkness campaign, which is ending this month and has shown promising results in reducing pedestrian crashes in evening hours. Now in its second year, DOT, NYPD and the TLC have since late October partnered on an enforcement and awareness campaign during the fall and winter evening hours that are most dangerous to pedestrians. Before the first campaign launched in October of 2016, severe crashes involving pedestrians increased by nearly 40 percent in the early evening hours compared to crashes outside the fall and winter. Pedestrian fatalities during the current Dusk and Darkness initiative have once again decreased from the previous year: from November 1 to March 7, pedestrian fatalities declined to 38 from 50 over the same period in 2016/17, which in turn was a decrease from 62 over the same pre-initiative period in 2015/16.
Last year was the fourth consecutive year of declining traffic deaths under Vision Zero, with the fewest-ever overall traffic fatalities citywide, driven by a 32 percent drop in pedestrian fatalities.
For more information about the de Blasio Administration’s Vision Zero initiative, please seewww.nyc.gov/visionzero.
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