This Week: Stop Speeding

According to the UK Department of Transportation, if a person is struck by a driver traveling at 40 miles per hour, there’s an 85 percent chance the victim will die. At 30 miles per hour, the pedestrian has a 55 percent chance of surviving. At 20 mph, the odds of survival go up to 95 percent.

In New York City, where the speed limit is 30 mph, driving faster than the law permits is a contributing factor in 20 percent of crashes that kill or seriously injure pedestrians. Yet speeding is rampant across the city. One Transportation Alternatives study found that 39 percent of NYC motorists were driving over the speed limit.

To ramp up their campaign against unsafe speeds, T.A. and NYU’s Rudin Center are hosting a day-long summit this Friday, bringing together politicians, doctors, engineers, police officers, and transportation advocates. Learn more about the many costs of speeding and best practices for building safer, slower streets from around the country and the world.

  • Monday: DOT hosts an open house for the city’s next Select Bus Service route, on Nostrand and Rogers Avenues. View the current plans and give input to the project team. 6:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday: Please come and show your support for Streetfilms at their Reel Celebration fundraiser. You’ll get to see sneak peeks of upcoming Streetfilms and meet special guests like DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Randy Cohen, author of the New York Times’ “Ethicist” column. There are only a few spaces left, so be sure to buy an advance ticket to reserve your spot. 6:30 p.m.
  • Also Tuesday: DOT presents its study on the feasibility of a Brooklyn streetcar to Community Board 2. 6:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday: City officials, transportation advocates, and real estate developers discuss the future of transit-oriented development in Brooklyn. 8:30 a.m.
  • Friday: The Stop Speeding Summit, put on by Transportation Alternatives and NYU’s Rudin Center, lays out the need for slower speeds on New York City streets and a path toward achieving that important safety goal. City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley keynotes. 8:30 a.m.
  • Also Friday: Vision Long Island hosts its annual Smart Growth Summit, offering workshops on issues like transit-oriented development, smart growth legislation, LEED-ND and downtown revitalization. 8:00 a.m.

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Vacca Endorses Life-Saving 20 MPH Speed Limit

By Noah Kazis |
Speed kills, even when traffic is moving at New York’s citywide limit of 30 miles per hour. According to the UK Department for Transport, if a driver hits a pedestrian at 30 miles per hour, the victim only has a 55 percent chance of surviving. At 20 mph, the pedestrian has a 95 percent chance […]

Speeding Kills, and 39 Percent of New York Drivers Are Doing It

By Brad Aaron |
Could speed have caused yesterday’s pedestrian fatality? We’ll probably never know. Photo: New York Daily News A new report from Transportation Alternatives confirms what New York pedestrians and cyclists have been forced to accept as a fact of life: A high number of drivers speed through city streets, regardless of the potentially deadly consequences for […]

Vacca Watch: Transpo Chair Stays Strong on Speeding Enforcement

By Noah Kazis |
City Council Transportation Chair James Vacca showed his safety supporter side at a press conference in the Bronx this morning. Standing with DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan at the corner of the Grand Concourse and 165th Street to announce the installation of countdown pedestrian signals, Vacca had strong words for speeding motorists and endorsements for both […]