Mayor Signs Signs 11 Traffic Safety Bills Supporting Vision Zero

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday signed a package of traffic safety bills that effectively updated the city's legal code and enhanced penalties for dangerous driving.

From a newly redesigned intersection in Queens, the mayor-- joined by Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, NYPD Chief of Transportation Thomas Chan, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and parents of young children who were killed crossing city streets-- signed 11 bills supporting the City's Vision Zero initiative:

• Intro 43A: Requires DOT to study left turns and produce a report every five years
• Intro 46A: Requires DOT to respond to address major traffic signal issues within 24 hours
• Intro 80A: Requires DOT to produce a report on work zone safety guidelines on bridges
• Intro 140A: Requires DOT to install seven Neighborhood Slow Zones in 2014 and 2015 and lower speeds to 15-20 mph near 50 schools annually
• Intro 167A: Prohibits stunt behaviors on motorcycles
• Intro 168A: Requires DOT to study arterial roadways and produce a report every five years
• Intro 171A ("Cooper's Law"): Requires TLC to suspend a driver involved in a crash in which a person is critically injured or dies, and where the driver receives a summons for any related traffic violation
• Intro 174A: Requires TLC to review crashes where critical injury or death resulted
• Intro 238A: Establishes penalties for vehicles that fail to yield to pedestrians and bicyclists
• Intro 272A: Amends the TLC Critical Driver and Persistent Violator programs to add points to TLC and DMV licenses
• Intro 277A: Requires TLC to report quarterly crash data involving taxi and limousine commission licensed vehicles

"We have promised the people of this city that we will use every tool we have to make streets safer," said de Blasio. "Today is another step on our path to fulfilling that promise, and sparing more families the pain of losing a son, a daughter, or a parent in a senseless tragedy."

The Mayor also praised legislative leaders in Albany for passing legislation last week that empowers the City to lower its default speed limit from 30 to 25 miles per hour, a measure that will help reduce chronic speeding—a leading factor in fatal traffic crashes in New York City.