File #: Res 0060-2006    Version: * Name: DOT to immediately expand its Safe Routes to School program.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Transportation
On agenda: 2/15/2006
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling upon the City Department of Transportation to immediately expand its Safe Routes to School program to every elementary school in New York City to prevent traffic injuries and deaths of children.
Sponsors: Helen D. Foster, Letitia James, Rosie Mendez, Michael C. Nelson, David I. Weprin, John C. Liu
Council Member Sponsors: 6

Res. No. 60

 

Resolution calling upon the City Department of Transportation to immediately expand its Safe Routes to School program to every elementary school in New York City to prevent traffic injuries and deaths of children.

 

By Council Members Foster, James, Mendez, Nelson, Weprin and Liu

 

Whereas, According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2001, the number one cause of death and injury for New York City children aged 5 to 9 was being struck, as pedestrians, by vehicle drivers and, in that year, 188 of every 100,000 New York City children were victims of traffic accidents, as compared to 159 of every 100,000 New Yorkers 18 and over; and

Whereas, According to the Centers for Disease Control, children are particularly at risk for traffic-related injury because they are small and difficult to see, because they tend to dart into traffic and because they have not developed the skills and experience to safely navigate City streets or to judge vehicular speed and distance; and

Whereas, Traffic calming devises such as speed humps, speed tables, curb extensions, special street designs and more pedestrian friendly traffic signal timing help prevent traffic injuries and deaths of children; and

Whereas, Section 1642(26) of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law allows the New York City Department of Transportation (“DOT”) to design streets for speeds as low as 15 mph through the use of traffic calming devices, and Section 1643 of such law permits DOT to establish speed limits as low as 15 mph within 1,320 feet of a school; and

Whereas, Commendably, DOT launched its Safe Routes to School program in February 2004 at 135 “priority schools”; and

Whereas, The Safe Routes to School program provides traffic calming mechanisms to prevent traffic injuries and deaths of children walking to and from school; and

Whereas, Although the immediate expansion of the Safe Routes to School program to every elementary school in New York City would further reduce traffic-related injuries and deaths of children, only 20% of the more than 600 elementary schools in the City are currently part of this program; and

Whereas, According to Transportation Alternatives, a non-profit group that supports bicycling, walking and public transit, school safety is more important than convenience to drivers, but, “In the past, school safety has taken a back seat to the convenience of drivers [and it] is time for the DOT to put safety first and expand the Safe Routes to School program to every elementary school in New York City”; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the City Department of Transportation to immediately expand its Safe Routes to School program to every elementary school in New York City to prevent traffic injuries and deaths of children.

RR

Res 766/2005