Statement from Transportation Alternatives after Driver Hits and Kills Two Pedestrians, Self on 42nd Street in Astoria
Both 42nd Street and 19th Avenue are eligible for a speed limit reduction through Sammy’s Law, but the Adams administration has not moved forward.
The Adams administration has enacted speed limit reductions on less than 2% of eligible streets.
A pedestrian hit by a car going 20 mph is six times less likely to die than someone hit by a car going 30 mph.
QUEENS, NY — This morning, a driver hit and killed two pedestrians on 42nd Street in Astoria. The driver also died from injuries from the crash. The pedestrians were 41 and 70 years old and were waiting at a coffee truck when they were killed. The driver was speeding northbound on 42nd Street — a street eligible for a speed reduction through Sammy’s Law, but remains speed-limited at 25 mph.
Beginning last year, thanks to Sammy’s Law, New York City finally has the ability to lower speed limits on most streets from 25 mph to 20 mph. The Adams administration has enacted speed limit reductions on less than 2% of eligible streets, and many slow zones are only a block or two long and are only slowed for a few hours each week. Community Board 1 in Brooklyn called on DOT to implement a district-wide 20 mph speed limit back in February, but nothing has moved forward.
Slower speeds are proven to reduce crashes dramatically. A pedestrian hit by a car going 20 mph is six times less likely to die than someone hit by a car going 30 mph. Lower speed limits make everyone drive slower; even people who exceed the speed limit exceed it to a more minor degree.
This crash occurred near the intersection of 42nd Street and 19th Avenue. NYC DOT presented a safety redesign, including a bike lane, for 19th Avenue in June of this year, and has yet to move forward with the project. Local elected officials and community advocates have also called for a comprehensive street safety plan that has yet to move forward.
Statement from Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Ben Furnas:
“Lower speeds save lives. Members of Families for Safe Streets who lost their loved ones spent hundreds of hours travelling to Albany and fighting for Sammy’s Law, the transformative legislation that finally allows New York City to lower speed limits in huge swaths of the five boroughs. Local elected officials have called for a comprehensive street safety plan urgently needed for the neighborhood’s safety. Instead of updating and re-imagining streets in every corner of our city, the mayor has left the legislation and the plan to gather dust on his desk.
“Passing Sammy’s Law alone isn’t enough — the mayor needs to care enough about our safety to implement it widely. Every street near a school, daycare, church, senior center, or park should have slower speeds. Setting lower speed limits, street by street, will save lives and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Instead, the mayor’s sitting on his hands while New Yorkers are killed.
“The law is on the books; now we need real implementation. The next mayor can and should commit to widely implementing Sammy’s Law on day one. New Yorkers' lives depend on it.”
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