13 Safe Zones Coming To New York, Will Protect New Yorkers From Speeding Drivers

The New York City Department of Transportation announced plans to install 13 safe zones throughout the city. More than 100 local groups applied to have these zones in their neighborhood. Safe zones make streets safer by reducing the speed limit from 30 mph to 20 mph. Traffic calming measures, including speed bumps and markings, are also installed to ensure drivers don't speed. A pedestrian has a 98 percent chance of surviving a collision with a car traveling at 20 miles per hour.

"Today's announcement is a victory for these neighborhoods," said Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "Local residents have been clamoring for safe zones to protect themselves and their families from dangerous speeding. As the majority of speeding-related fatalities occur on neighborhood streets, communities in all five boroughs will need safe zones of their own."

Neighborhood safe zones reduce the speed limit from 30 mph to 20 mph in order to protect local residents from speeding drivers and reduce traffic crashes. Speeding is the leading cause of fatal crashes in the five boroughs. In 2010, speeding drivers killed 45 people, and injured 2,300.

After installing the city's first safe zone in the Claremont section of the Bronx last November, the DOT began accepting applications for safe zone installations in neighborhoods across the city. The New York City Department of Transportation selects appropriate locations and works in the community to install the safe zone with the approval of the local community board.

Transportation Alternatives worked with the Fort Greene Association, the Park Slope Civic Council, the Brownsville Partnership, Rego Park Green Alliance, the Bronx Helpers and local residents along Baychester Avenue in the Bronx and in Clinton Hill to improve street safety by applying for safe zones.

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