BILL NUMBER: S3882A
SPONSOR: HINCHEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to area speed
limits
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill gives municipalities outside of New York City the ability to
use the National Association of City Transportation Officials' (NACTO)
published guide for evaluating speed limits, instead of relying solely
on the manual and specifications for a uniform system of traffic control
devices. This will allow municipalities to reduce area-wide speed limits
from 30 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour without prohibitively expen-
sive engineering studies.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Short title: This act shall be known and may be cited as
"Area Speed Limits Act."
Section 2: Amends Section 1643 of the vehicle and traffic law to give
cities and villages with populations of less than one million the
authority to use the National Association of City Transportation Offi-
cials' (NACTO) published guide for evaluating speed limits in addition
to the manual and specifications for a uniform system of traffic control
devices.
Section 3: Amends Section 1662-a of the Vehicle and Traffic Law to give
towns the authority to use the National Association of City Transporta-
tion Officials' (NACTO) published guide for evaluating speed limits in
addition to the manual and specifications for a uniform system of traf-
fic control devices. This section had previously only applied to subur-
ban towns, and the bill applies the section to all towns.
Section 4: Sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Chapter 496 of 2022 intended to give municipalities outside of New York
City the ability to set area speed limits at 25 miles per hour instead
of 30 miles per hour. Unfortunately, the current statute requires muni-
cipalities to conduct engineering studies that can be prohibitively
expensive for small municipalities without an engineer on staff, and
very few have been able to use their Chapter 496 authority to set new
area speed limits over large areas. Furthermore, Section 1662-a had
previously only applied to suburban towns, which is defined as having a
population of more than twenty-five thousand or conforming to certain
growth requirements, and the bill applies the section to all towns. The
NACTO approach is proactive and will save municipalities money.
According to AAA's Foundation for Traffic Safety, the risk of severe
injury for a pedestrian in a car crash climbs from 25% to 50% between 23
mph and 31 mph. New York City has an area-wide speed limit of 25, and
other municipalities in the state should be able to make the same
choice.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill is effective immediately.

Statutes affected:
S3882: 1643 vehicle and traffic law, 1662-a vehicle and traffic law
S3882A: 1643 vehicle and traffic law, 1662-a vehicle and traffic law