File #: Int 0578-2022    Version: * Name: Improving safety at pedestrian crossings in the city.
Type: Introduction Status: Filed (End of Session)
Committee: Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
On agenda: 7/14/2022
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to improving safety at pedestrian crossings in the city
Sponsors: Ari Kagan, Robert F. Holden, Tiffany Cabán, Rita C. Joseph, Kalman Yeger , Sandy Nurse, Jennifer Gutiérrez, Justin L. Brannan
Council Member Sponsors: 8
Summary: The proposed bill would require the Department of Transportation to consider, as part of its studies of fatal or serious pedestrian crashes, the implementation of added pedestrian signal safety features. These features would be “leading pedestrian interval” crossings, which display a walk indication for pedestrians before a green indication is displayed for parallel vehicular traffic, or “exclusive pedestrian phase” crossings, which allow pedestrians to completely cross an intersection while vehicular traffic is stopped in all directions. This bill would respond to the ongoing concern for pedestrian safety and is intended to help reduce the risk of accidents involving pedestrians at intersections in the city.
Attachments: 1. Summary of Int. No. 578, 2. Int. No. 578, 3. July 14, 2022 - Stated Meeting Agenda, 4. Hearing Transcript - Stated Meeting 7-14-22, 5. Minutes of the Stated Meeting - July 14, 2022

Int. No. 578

 

By Council Members Kagan, Holden, Cabán, Joseph, Yeger, Nurse, Gutiérrez and Brannan

 

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to improving safety at pedestrian crossings in the city

 

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

 

Section 1.  Section 19-180.1 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 12 for the year 2011 and renumbered by local law number 127 for the year 2013, is amended to read as follows:

                     § 19-180.1 Safety audits of crash locations involving pedestrians a. Within one hundred and eighty days of receiving access to New York state department of motor vehicles traffic crash data involving pedestrian injuries or fatalities for the previous calendar year, the department shall:

                         1. Identify the twenty highest crash locations based upon a ranking of the total number of crashes involving pedestrians killed or seriously injured, occurring over a five-year period and selected proportionally by borough based upon the percentage of total crashes involving pedestrians in such borough; and

                         2. Inspect and conduct audits at such locations and, where warranted, make improvements or incorporate improvements into capital projects, such as installation of leading pedestrian interval signals or exclusive pedestrian phase signals at intersections containing pedestrian crossings.

                         b. Within thirty days of completing the inspections and audits required under paragraph 2 of subdivision a of this section, the department shall send a report noting such inspection and audit and summarizing its recommendations and steps to be taken, including a schedule to implement such recommendations, to the council member and community board in whose district the crash location is located.

                         c. If any crash location appears on the department's annual list of twenty highest crash locations involving pedestrians more than once in five consecutive years, such location shall be removed from the annual list and replaced by the location with the next highest number of crashes involving pedestrians located within the same borough as the consecutively appearing location; provided that the department shall continue to monitor such crash data and/or make safety improvements at such removed location until such removed location is no longer one of the highest crash locations.

                         d. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

Exclusive pedestrian phase. The term “exclusive pedestrian phase” means a pedestrian control signal at any intersection with crosswalks and where the signal allows pedestrians an exclusive interval at which to completely cross the intersection while vehicular traffic is stopped in all directions.

Leading pedestrian interval. The term “leading pedestrian interval” means a pedestrian control signal that displays a walk indication before a green indication for the parallel direction of vehicular traffic.

Seriously injured. The term "seriously injured" [shall mean]means those injuries categorized as "A" injuries by the New York state department of motor vehicles.

§ 2. Subdivision a of section 19-182 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 12 for the year 2011, is amended to read as follows:

 § 19-182 Comprehensive study of pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries. a. Every five years, the department shall conduct a comprehensive study of all traffic crashes involving a pedestrian fatality or serious injury for the most recent five years where traffic crash data is available. In each such study, the department shall analyze the conditions and factors associated with each such traffic crash and identify common factors among the crashes, if any. The department shall use such studies to develop strategies to improve pedestrian safety, which may include modifying citywide traffic operations policy, developing pedestrian safety strategies geared towards specific users, including, but not limited to, installation of audible pedestrian signals and other devices to assist those with sight, hearing and mobility impairments, installation of leading pedestrian intervals, installation of exclusive pedestrian phases, prioritizing locations and/or types of roadways or intersections for safety improvements and making recommendations for improving safety at such locations.

                     § 3. This local law takes effect immediately.

 

 

Session 12

IP

LS #8457

6/9/22 12:40pm

 

Session 11

MN

LS #734

Int. #104-2018