Int. No. 370-A
By Council Members Lappin, Brewer, Chin, Comrie, Fidler, Gentile, Gonzalez, James, Koppell, Koslowitz, Lander, Palma, Garodnick, Mealy, Rose, Jackson, Van Bramer, Barron, Mendez, Levin, Nelson, Gennaro, Recchia Jr., Rodriguez, Reyna, Dromm, Koo, Weprin, Greenfield, and The Public Advocate (Mr. de Blasio)
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to pedestrian safety reporting.
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Chapter one of title 14 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 14-153 to read as follows:
§14-153 Traffic data. a. The department shall publish on its website the following traffic-related data: (1) the number of moving violation summonses issued, disaggregated by type of summons; (2) the number of traffic crashes, disaggregated by (i) the type of vehicle or vehicles involved and (ii) the number of motorists and/or injured passengers, bicyclists and pedestrians involved; and (3) the number of traffic-related fatalities and injuries disaggregated by (i) the number of motorists and/or injured passengers, bicyclists and pedestrians involved; and (ii) the apparent human contributing factor or factors involved in the crash, including, but not limited to alcohol, driver inattention/distraction, speeding, failure to yield and use of cell phones or other mobile devices.
b. The data required pursuant to this section shall be published on the department's website for the whole city and disaggregated by borough and police precinct, and shall be searchable by intersection, except for the data required under paragraph one of subdivision a, which shall be disaggregated by borough and police precinct only. Such data shall be updated at least once every month.
§2. Section 19-180 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by local law 11 for the year 2008, is amended to read as follows:
§19-180 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.
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 [in two] 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, "seriously injured" shall mean those injuries categorized as "A" injuries by the New York state department of motor vehicles.
§ 3. Section 19-181 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by local law number 11 for the year 2008, is amended to read as follows:
§19-181 Safety inspections at locations exhibiting a pattern of crashes involving pedestrians and/or bicyclists. a. Within ninety days of receiving access to New York state department of motor vehicles traffic crash data involving pedestrians and/or bicyclists, the department shall inspect every location with [five] four or more serious injuries or fatalities involving pedestrians and/or bicyclists during the prior [twelve month] five-year period.
b. Within ninety days of notice of a traffic crash involving a fatality, the department shall conduct an inspection of the traffic crash location.
c. The department shall act upon any inspection recommendations, if warranted.
d. The department shall make the results of the inspections required under subdivisions a and b or any actions required by subdivision c of this section available upon request to the public.
e. For purposes of this section, "serious injury" shall mean those injuries categorized as "A" injuries by the New York state department of motor vehicles.
§4. Section 19-182 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by local law 11 for the year 2008, is amended to read as follows:
§19-182 Comprehensive study of pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries. a. [The]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 [study] 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, prioritizing locations and/or types of roadways or intersections for safety improvements and making recommendations for improving safety at such locations.
b. The first comprehensive traffic study [required under subdivision a of this section shall be submitted to the mayor and council by the thirtieth day of august, two thousand and nine. The] and plans, including a schedule for implementing strategies for improving pedestrian safety generated by such study, shall be submitted to the mayor and council by the thirtieth day of november, two thousand and [nine] fifteen. Subsequent studies and plans shall be submitted to the mayor and council every five years thereafter by the thirtieth of november in every such year.
§5. Title 19 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 19-184 to read as follows:
§19-184 Interagency roadway safety plan. a. The department shall develop an interagency plan to improve roadway safety, which shall be designed to, among other things, reduce the incidents of traffic violations, crashes, injuries and fatalities.
b. Such plan shall identify key agencies and groups that the department shall meet with at least monthly to work on improving roadway safety and shall include, but not be limited to:
i. Proposed programs and initiatives to reduce traffic violations and to encourage traffic calming and safety measures;
ii. Suggestions for behavioral modification to reduce crashes in the city, such as education and strategic traffic enforcement;
iii. A plan to increase collaboration between the department and the police department on roadway safety; and
iv. A schedule for implementing the proposals contained in such plan.
c. The department shall issue such plan to the mayor and council ninety days after the date on which the local law that added this section takes effect. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, the strategies for improving roadway safety, whether any strategies were implemented, and the status of such implementation.
§6. This local law shall take effect one hundred twenty days after it is enacted into law.
LF 1/25/11 2:01 pm