Mayor de Blasio Lowers Speed Limits and Steps Up Enforcement of Drivers who Fail to Yield

By Yehudit Garmaise

   The city will be lowering speed limits to 45 mph on major streets, and the NYPD will be targeting drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians or cyclists to better protect them, said Mayor Bill de Blasio, as he described this week’s safety blitz he is calling: Streets’ Week!

   “We want to send a clear message: ‘Dangerous driving has no place in New York City,’” the mayor said at his press conference this morning. “We are focusing on enforcement and the NYPD is going to do enforcement blitz on ‘failure-to-yield.’”

    One reporter pointed out, however, that usually, the NYPD does not do much by way of enforcing drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians and cyclists. In fact, the reporter pointed out that the NYPD usually only give out four tickets per day for drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians and cyclists.

   “Instead of more enforcement, why doesn’t the city create more massive car-free spaces?” the reporter asked.

    Although the number of pedestrian deaths had been declining for five years, in 2021, those numbers have once again begun to climb.

    Since Jan. 1, 41 pedestrians in the city have passed away, which is a number that is up significantly from the 26 pedestrians who died from Jan. 1 to April 30 in 2020.

    Last year, the city counted the lowest number of such pedestrian deaths, which numbered 99, since the city began to keep records on traffic deaths in 1910.

    “Even with Vision Zero, we have seen too many people hurt,” the mayor said. “Lower speed limits create accountability and save lives.”