New York City (NYC) is cracking down on speeding. Each year, speeding accounts for a significant amount of road accident fatalities. To solve this problem, a number of states and cities are looking at viable solutions to ensure the safety of all road users and to assist law enforcement with ensuring that all drivers are following the rules-of-the-road. New York City has recently announced new changes to monitor the city’s bridges, tunnels, and construction zones.
Speeding correlates with increased road fatalities in NYC
According to the National Safety Council, speeding accounted for nearly a third of all road accident fatalities, with an average of 32 people dying per day from car accidents that were caused by a speeding driver. When a driver excessively speeds, it increases the chances of an accident significantly, as the driver has less time to react on the road to avoid a crash and reduces the following distance between vehicles, meaning if a driver were to suddenly brake, the speeding driver would have less time to react to this.
According to data from the World Health Organization, an increase in average speed directly correlates to both the likelihood of a crash occurring and the severity of the crash. As an example, every 1% increase in average speed produces a 4% increase in the risk of a fatal crash and a 3% increase in the chance of a serious injury crash. Additionally, pedestrians’ livelihoods are also at stake, with a chance of fatality increasing by 4.5 times with an increase in speed from 50 km/h to 65 km/h.
Expanding New York’s Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement program
New York City has recently announced new changes and repercussions as part of the state’s Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement program. The program is a response to the 378 work-zone intrusions in 2021 and is designed to increase the state’s ongoing efforts to keep motorists from speeding in work zones, to not only make highways safer but also protect construction workers.
To expand the Automated Work Zone Enforcement Program in New York State, Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed a new piece of legislation that would put speed cameras up in construction zones on bridges and tunnels to monitor speeding and automatically ticket drivers who are caught doing so. If caught speeding, you will be charged $50 for your first violation, $75 for the second, which occurs within 18 months, and $100 for any other violations that occur within the same 18 months.
“Governor Hochul has said since day one of this budget process that public safety is her top priority,” said a spokesperson for Hochul’s office. “Expanding this successful program to MTA Bridges and Tunnels is one more way the Governor is working to improve safety on our roads and bridges for workers and travelers alike.”
Other changes for New York residents
New York has been particularly on the ball about reducing speeding and other traffic violations. This year, New York City is also reducing the speed limit from 25mph to 20mph through the passing of Sammy’s Law, a piece of legislation put in place after a 12-year-old boy, Sammy Cohen Eckstein, was killed by a speeding driver in 2013. Currently, the speed reduction is taking a staggered approach throughout the city, but by the end of the year, the entire city will have this new speeding limit implemented.
In addition, the city has one of the largest automated traffic enforcement programs in the US, boasting over 2,000 speed cameras to assist law enforcement with implementing speeding fines. According to city officials, the program has been attributed to lowering speeding incidents by 70% over the past thirty years of its implementation and expansion. These changes are ensuring safer roads for all drivers, especially in a city like New York with a large population and high population density.
