Starting today, Oct. 9, in New York City, the Department of Transportation (DOT) will lower basic speed limits from 20 mph down to 10 mph on some roads, in accordance with the Sammy’s Law, named after 12-year-old victim Sammy Cohen Eckstein who was killed in Brooklyn in 2013 by a motorist while playing ball in the street near his home. This month, DOT officials plan to lower speed limits to 20 mph along Audubon Ave in Washington Heights, while a “slow zone” with a 20 mph limit will be established in southern Manhattan on Canal St. streets.
To honor the memory of the slain young man, DOT officials will officially make the stretch of Prospect Park West road, where Sammy lost his life, the city’s first 20 mph speed limit zone.
Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said, “A driver’s speed can mean the difference between life and death in a traffic crash, so the speed limit reductions we are making will help protect everyone who shares our busy streets, Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement. I want to thank Amy Cohen Eckstein and Sammy’s entire family for their tireless advocacy to give New York City the legal authority we needed to reduce speed limits”, she added.
By the end of the year, DOT officials will reduce limits on 60 more New York City streets. They also plan to introduce 15 mph speed limits in 47 school zones throughout the boroughs and 10 mph limits on busy streets that have been redesigned to give greater priority to walkers and cyclists.
