Car crashes are down in area cities that have lowered their speed limits.
In 2022, New York state gave municipalities the green light to drop city speed limits to 25 mph. In July 2024, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan signed the lower limit into law. It took effect on January 1st.
Albany Police spokesperson Megan Craft says it gives drivers more time to react and reduces the severity of collisions. Craft says APD data gathered over the past month days shows the number of crashes dropped 29% from the same timeframe in 2024, down to 205 from 287.
15th ward Common Councilor Tom Hoey, who chairs the public safety committee, says preliminary data is promising.
"The statistics have come out that there is less accidents. I think we're down, 30% was the number I heard. In general, it has slowed people down, and we're quite happy about that," Hoey said.
Kyle Hatch with Capital Streets, a transportation activist group, says he's not surprised to hear lower speeds are reducing crash rates.
"National research typically shows us, if you're like outside of a car and you are hit by a vehicle going 40 miles an hour or more, there's a 90% chance that you're going to be killed," said Hatch. "But when that speed drops down to 20 miles an hour, there's only a 10% chance that that pedestrian will die. So really, like the sweet spot that we're talking about in terms of speed reduction, is right where these cities are targeting, between 25 and 40 miles an hour."
City Hall says Albany has invested more than $100 million dollars in major traffic calming initiatives, installing red light cameras, and improving bicycle infrastructure.
Schenectady implemented its 25 mph speed limit on March 1st. Police Lieutenant Ryan Macherone says early statistics look good.
"Crashes are going down in the city, but between this this year and last year, we saw 14 less crashes in March in the city, 14 less car accidents. That's good to look at. I think that's that is giving us some positive feedback that we were hoping to see. We have to, you know, look at a more historical data set, and that will take some time to do," Macherone said.
City Council President Marion Porterfield says the panel is divided: some councilors think the new limit is working, others don't.
"I've seen an improvement. If you know, I'm just looking myself as the traffic slows out on some streets. On other streets, we still are seeing a lot of speeding. So it's going to take a lot more enforcement, I believe, for people to really get the message. And, you know, hand out a few tickets. People understand that this is very serious business. It's not just about slowing them down, but it's really about public safety as well," said Porterfield.
Cohoes, Kingston, Hudson and East Greenbush are among municipalities that have reduced speed limits to 25.
