The NYPD and NYC DOT have taken the next step towards making streets in New York City safer for drivers and pedestrians.
As of Friday, November 7, the speed limit on all New York City streets will be 25 mph unless otherwise posted, including 14 arterial slow zones in all five boroughs.
This newly enforced speed limit by the NYPD forces drivers to slow down in such zones, preventing further automobile crashes and pedestrian injuries – part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero Action Plan to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries.
According to NYC DOT, a New Yorker is killed or seriously injured in a traffic crash every two hours, on average. Decreasing the speed limit by five mph can only make the roads safer, eliminating the chances of a driver facing the unexpected, such as a collision.
The new speed limit scenario will also eliminate the chances, by half, that a pedestrian will die after being struck by a vehicle, as opposed to a pedestrian that has been struck by a vehicle driving 30 mph.
It’s not rocket science – a crash at a higher speed is more deadly than a crash at a lower speed.
“Anything that slows drivers down is a good thing,” said Bronx resident George Zulch, who lives in Indian Village, a section of Morris Park including numerous one-way streets that speeders and reckless drivers abuse regularly.
“Cars will speed backwards, speed the wrong way down a one-way street and even get close to the curb to avoid speed bumps near schools. The decreased speed limit will create safer streets, but not if there isn’t consistent enforcement.”
The 14 arterial slow zones in New York City will include two in the Bronx – Jerome Avenue from East 161st Street to Bainbridge Avenue and 3rd Avenue from East 138th Street to East 183rd Street.
The city has also announced that it would implement slow zones on Grand Concourse from East 140th Street to Mosholu Parkway, on Southern Boulevard from East Fordham Road to Bruckner Boulevard and on East Gun Hill Road from Jerome Avenue to the I-95 Thruway.
All arterial slow zones will include distinctive blue and white 25 mph signs complementing the DOT’s already existing Neighborhood Slow Zone program, along with speed board installations to alert drivers of the new change in speed limit. These zones will also be equipped with security cameras to catch speeders, even if they’re driving five mph’s over the limit.
The 25-day countdown to NYC’s new speed limit of 25 mph has officially begun, so to every motorist traveling through a slow zone – take a good listen to track #6 on Kanye West’s 2005 album ‘Late Registration’ – and drive slow, homie.
