October 14, 2009
GOVERNOR PATERSON AND WESTCHESTER COUNTY EXECUTIVE SPANO ANNOUNCE LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE SAFETY ON STATE ROADS
New Legislation Addresses Growing Problem of Bridge Strikes in Westchester County and Across the State
Bill Would Impose Stiffer Penalties for Commercial Vehicles that Disobey Roadway Laws and Cause Safety Hazards
Governor David A. Paterson and Westchester County Executive Andrew J. Spano today announced legislation to improve safety on State roads by stricter enforcement of driving laws aimed at dramatically reducing the number of bridge strikes in Westchester County and across the State. Commercial truck drivers increasingly rely on Global Positioning Systems (GPS) that direct them to take New York State roads that either are off limits to trucks by law or have low clearances. This leads to an increased number of accidents called bridge strikes, in which trucks slam into overpasses and cause accidents and traffic delays.
The legislation proposed by the Governor in coordination with Westchester County would:
- Increase the penalties for truck drivers who illegally use parkways;
- Allow for the confiscation of trucks stopped and ticketed at the discretion of officers on the scene;
- Require all large commercial trucks to use enhanced GPS devices that route them away from restricted roads; and
- Allow the State and affected localities to recoup many of the costs associated with the bridge strike from the trucking company or their insurance carrier.
“Bridge strikes are a critical public safety issue, as they endanger lives, eat up taxpayer dollars and add unnecessary stress to our daily commutes,” Governor Paterson said. “Today, we put an end to bridge strikes by preventing truck drivers from illegally straying onto parkways and other restricted roads. This legislation will ensure that our roads and bridges are safer for New Yorkers so that we can divert money currently spent on clean up costs to schools, hospitals and social services for our neediest citizens.”
“I want to thank County Executive Spano and Westchester County for their assistance and their ideas without which we would be nowhere close to solving this problem,” added the Governor. “The County Executive has been an outspoken leader on this issue and I am pleased that through collaboration, we have drafted legislation to address this critical public safety issue for all New Yorkers.”
County Executive Spano said: “Every week we hear of another truck striking a bridge on our parkways. Over the weekend there were two more of these accidents. So far, no one has been injured. But it’s only a matter of time before someone is killed or a truck carrying chemicals or explosives hits a bridge. We thank the Governor for coming here today to help us solve what is clearly a statewide problem. Through legislation and cooperation, we can reduce the number of these accidents, and prevent a tragedy.’’
The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has documented more than 1,400 bridge strikes in the last 15 years, with four out of the five worst locations along the Hutchinson River Parkway in Westchester County.
A truck slamming into the low ceiling of a bridge overpass at high speeds can wreak havoc on both the struck overpass and the highways themselves. Cargo and debris spill onto the road, short stops cause multi-car pileups and traffic is held up for hours, delaying the arrival of emergency and cleanup crews. So far this year, there have been 46 bridge strikes in Westchester County, including nine on the King Street Bridge alone. Many of these bridges are historic, having been built in the early part of the last century.
NYSDOT is working in conjunction with the New York State Police, Westchester County, the New York City Police Department and the New York City Department of Transportation as part of the Bridge Strike Mitigation Task Force to implement solutions to this ongoing problem.
The task force has recommended that the Westchester County Police and State Police initiate an unprecedented enforcement blitz, which began late last month. In one week, law enforcement issued some 400 tickets to commercial truck drivers who were illegally operating their vehicles on certain roads and parkways. Most of the tickets were issued to out-of-state drivers using non-commercial GPS devices.
According to NYSDOT, 81 percent of overpass strikes by commercial vehicles are caused by GPS guidance. New York State has contacted 20 different GPS and mapping providers on upgrading software to account for low clearance bridges and overpasses. The goal is to provide both real-time and static data to truck drivers, such as incident reports to re-route truck drivers (and regular drivers) right after accidents happen, as well as and the heights of upcoming overpasses as drivers approach them.
Additionally, the task force has recommended beginning a number of pilot programs to test both low- and high-tech ways to warn drivers of upcoming bridges or road closures, such as moving warning signs further up the road and using infrared beams to detect a truck approaching a road it should not be entering.
NYSDOT and the State Police have been in discussions with National Insurance Crime Bureau of the possibility of insurance discounts for truckers using upgraded GPS devices with truck routing information.
