Short summary: City Comptroller Mark Levine and other elected officials asked NYC DOT to use Sammy's Law to drop speed limits to 20 mph across 17 community districts. Those districts saw 22,490 crashes, 60 deaths and 11,644 serious injuries last year. Lower limits generally mean fewer and less severe crashes. They also change what counts as speeding when fault gets argued after a crash.
What happened
In an October 19 letter, Levine and other signatories, including the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens borough presidents and the chair of the Council's transportation committee, urged DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn to roll out district-wide 20 mph limits, as reported by amNewYork. The 17 districts are spread across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, and their community boards have passed resolutions supporting the change. The letter also asked DOT to prioritize the districts with the most deadly crashes.
Transportation Alternatives says the city has lowered limits to 20 mph on just 2 percent of eligible streets. DOT said it is reviewing the letter and pointed to its plan for 15 mph zones at schools, with a goal of 800 by the end of the year.
Why 5 mph matters
Speed decides how hard a car hits. A few miles per hour is often the difference between a bruise and a broken hip for a pedestrian, and between a fender bender and a totaled car. That is the case behind the 20 mph push.
What speed limits mean for a claim
In New York, breaking a traffic law can generally be used as evidence of negligence. When the posted limit drops, a driver going 27 mph goes from legal to speeding. That can shift fault, and under New York's new rule for car crash injury cases, fault matters more than ever. A person found more at fault than the other side generally recovers nothing. Our post on the 51 percent fault rule explains the change.
How speed gets proven
- Event data recorders in most newer cars store speed in the seconds before a crash.
- Speed camera and traffic camera records may exist nearby.
- Skid marks, damage and witness accounts help experts estimate speed.
- All of it needs to be requested early. Our checklist on what to do after a car accident in New York lists the first steps.
Questions New Yorkers ask us
If the driver who hit me was speeding, does that win my case?
Generally it helps, but it does not decide everything. Speeding can be evidence of negligence, and the full facts still determine how fault gets split.
How do I know the speed limit where my crash happened?
Generally, NYC streets default to 25 mph unless signs say otherwise, and some zones are lower, like 15 mph school zones. Photos of nearby signs taken at the scene help.
Not sure where you stand after a crash? Get your free case review or call (888) 208-0529. A real person answers, 24/7.
Reporting: amNewYork.
