Advocates Rally To Support Lowering Speed Limit In NYC
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- With just nine days left in New York's legislative session, a rally is being held to drum up support in Albany for lowering New York City's speed limit.
Mayor Bill de Blasio needs someone in the state senate to sponsor his push to reduce the default speed limit in the city from 30 to 25 miles per hour. The proposal is part of his "Vision Zero" plan, which aims to eliminate all pedestrian, bicyclist and motorist deaths in the city.
"If a pedestrian is struck by a motorist moving at 25 mph, that pedestrian is twice as likely to survive than if the motorist were going 30," said Paul Steely White of Transportation Alternatives.
The City Council does not have the authority to adjust the overall speed limit without the go-ahead from Albany.
The bill has been sponsored in the assembly by Speaker Sheldon Silver, but no senator has climbed on board.
Representatives of the group Families for Safe Streets, a coalition of people who have lost a loved one in a traffic accident, joined New York City Council Transportation Committee Chairman Ydanis Rodriguez in City Hall Park on Tuesday asking for someone in the state senate to sponsor the bill.
"I am here demanding 25 mph streets for Renee Thompson, my 16-year-old sister who was killed on 60th and 3rd in Manhattan," said Greg Thompson Jr., of Families for Safe Streets.
The families stood alongside 6,000 petitions wrapped in yellow ribbons that will be delivered to Senate co-leader Jeffrey Klein, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported.
Last month, the City Council approved a package of traffic safety bills, which included the creation of more slow zones and tougher penalties on reckless motorists and cab drivers.
Last year, 286 people were killed in traffic accidents in New York City, nearly as many as those who were homicide victims.
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