New York City is on the verge of completing a major overhaul of its speed limit regime that will reshape how motorists, cyclists, and e‑mobility users navigate its streets. After years of planning, advocacy, and legal change, the city will soon fully implement slower speed limits in hundreds of targeted locations with the aim of reducing fatalities and serious injuries on its roads.
At the heart of the transformation is Sammy’s Law, a state law passed in 2024 that gives New York City the authority to lower speed limits on local streets below the previous default of 25 miles per hour. The law is named after 12‑year‑old Sammy Cohen Eckstein, who was struck and killed by a speeding driver in Brooklyn in 2013. After decades of advocacy by his family and street safety activists, the law empowered city officials to enact lower limits where traffic danger is greatest.
The Blueprint for Slower Streets
Under that authority, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) has systematically rolled out so‑called Regional Slow Zones and other slow speed areas across all five boroughs. The goal has been to reduce vehicular speed limits to 20 mph in roughly 250 designated zones, prioritizing streets with high pedestrian volume, near schools, and in neighborhood commercial areas.
DOT officials say that lower speeds give drivers more time to react and significantly increase the chances of survival for pedestrians when collisions do occur.
The rollout began in late 2024 in Brooklyn and has since expanded to areas in the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, and Manhattan. These Regional Slow Zones are carefully defined neighborhoods where signage and traffic control measures now require drivers to slow to 20 mph…