August 18, 2025 • 22 mins
Aug. 18, 2025- We talk about efforts to promote traffic safety in the Empire State, including using cameras, lowering speed limits, and training drug recognition experts, with Mary Tanner Ritcher, deputy commissioner for traffic safety and investigations for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is WCNYS the Capitol press Room, and we're checking
in on the work of the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee,
which includes representatives from thirteen agencies and is responsible for
coordinating traffic safety activities in New York. To discuss the work,
we're joined by Mary Tanner Richter, a former prosecutor in
the Capital Region who is now Deputy Commissioner for Traffic
(00:25):
Safety and Investigations at the State Department of Motor Vehicles.
Welcome to the show, Deputy.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Commissioner, Thank you, good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
So when we think of the work of this committee,
when it comes to the idea of traffic safety, is
this about primarily getting people to stop speeding? Is this
about impaired driving? Is it about being courteous in I
don't know, changing lanes? What seems to be your primary
focus as a committee, Well, it's.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
All of those things and more. We actually have eight
program areas that GTSC focuses on that includes impaired driving, speeding,
and pedestrian emobility. We've got motorcycles and commercial motor vehicles,
distracted driving, pretty much anything that affects users of our roadway,
(01:20):
whether other motorists or our pedestrians, our bicyclists, our motorcyclists,
you name it. We're trying to keep everyone safe and
get them to their destination without getting hurt.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Well, then, what are some of the ways that New Yorkers,
whether they're driving, walking, pedaling, might notice, say the fingerprints
of the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee. What are some maybe
the forward facing activities that you do.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So we're primarily a grant program, and what we do
we have, oh gosh, a ton of grantees and various areas.
We have law enforcement and state agencies that we partner
with as well as we have not for profit partners
as well.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And you'll see us in the schools.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
We do no empty chair where we're trying to tell
teens to make good decisions.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
You know, you'll see us with seat belt operations.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
We actually will go out sometimes with law enforcement on
their details and you know, for those high visibilities, so
we're we're behind the scene. But you also see us
at a rest stop. You know, look at the screens
that they have and all the rest stops in the Thruway,
and you're going to see some signage from GTSC, the
(02:40):
Governor's Traffic Safety Committee with those different areas you know,
slow down, move over and you know, don't drive and paired.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
And when you talk about something like grants, is the
committee primarily a conduit through which federal dollars are distributed
or are you helping to spend state investments as well.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
No, it's definitely the federal grant funding that comes through
GTSE and then yeah, we're the ones that distributed out
to our various grantees.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And how much money are we talking in terms of
maybe a single year gets to spent through your committee.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
I don't have the dollar figure right in front of me.
I believe it might be just under sixty million dollars.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
But we're talking a good chunk of change. This isn't
like one thousand dollars here and there.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
No, no, no, no, I mean some of our grants are
one thousand dollars or less, depending on what agency is.
But we also have the half million dollar grants as well.
So there's a lot of different activities we are involved
in and we support.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So the way our roadways are utilized is continuously changing,
whether it's with the advent of smartphones and trying to
keep people off their phones while dry or maybe the
increased use of ride sharing and now we've got to
say e scooters that are supposed to be sharing the
road in some cases, and electric bikes. So how do
(04:12):
you keep up with the evolving demands of safety.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Well, that's where our program reps come in.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And actually we do have a program REP that's dedicated
to emobility because that's popping up all over. That's kind
of a hot topic these days. But we're constantly evolving.
We're looking at those trends, We're looking at what's new
out there. We're talking with our sister states to see
what you know, other states are dealing with that maybe
(04:40):
isn't here yet, but it's on the horizon, and then
we try to be proactive in handling that. You know,
the big change in New York with the legalization of cannabis,
that's something that certainly was on our radar and we
wanted to increase the number of drug recognition.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Experts that we had out there.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
As well as additional training for those non experts.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
But our law.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Enforcement partners to recognize that and make sure that those
drivers who are impaired are also taken off the road.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, that issue of drug recognition enforcement is sometimes viewed
controversially because there are some people who see it more
as a pseudoscience, since it might be difficult to tell
how a drug is presenting in one person versus another.
So how do you try to help law enforcement navigate
(05:37):
this area that can kind of have some minefields in it.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Well, it's tricky, right, And what I've sat in and on,
some of the training to become a drug recognition expert
is very intensive training and study and before you can
even become one, and then you have to continually keep
up with the training in order to remain certified. So
(06:05):
the things that our drug recognition experts don't do is
they don't tell you exactly which drug it is.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
They will not name a drug. What they will name
is a category of drugs. And this is.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Something that this has been vetted with you know, medical doctors.
We're part of the whole twelve step process and coming
up with it. What we do is we don't rely
solely on our drug recognition experts, but they are a
very important tool in drug driving investigations. But it's just
one of the many tools that we use. So one
(06:38):
of the big things though that we're doing is we're
making sure that our drug recognition experts are the best
of the best, and we're keeping the quality high in
order to maintain the accuracy of what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Well, before we move on, let me reintroduce you for
listeners just joining us. This is the Capital press Room
and we're speaking with Mary Tanner Richter, the Deputy Commission
for Traffic Safety and Investigations at the State Department of
Motor Vehicles. So, speaking of tools, when it comes to
this threat of drivers under the influence, do you feel
(07:11):
like law enforcement has enough authority to hold people accountable
if they are driving under the influence or driving while impaired,
or is there a need to expand say their statutory
authority and the tools that they can have.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
So here's what I'm going to say about that they
have the tools. The problem is the way the law
currently is in New York for drugged driving, they have
to be able to name the drug that's involved, and
that drug has to be on Public Health Law thirty
three oh six. And the governor recognized that even in
(07:51):
her this last budget year, she put in changes to
that to give law enforcement the additional tool they need
in order to be able to get impair drivers off
the road because it's virtually impossible to identify the exact drug.
They can identify a category, that's a much easier lift,
(08:12):
but to identify the exact drug would be virtually impossible
without having you know, the blood sample and admissions made
by the driver. So New York is only one of
four states that requires the drug to be named and
to be on the list before you can actually charge
and prosecute a person. And it just it doesn't make sense.
(08:35):
And law enforcement doesn't have to name what type of
alcohol a subject was consuming when they got impaired when
they drove, just that they were under the influence of alcohol.
The same should be true for drugs. We shouldn't have
to identify the specific drug before we can hold that
person accountable. And quite frankly, you know, having been a
(08:55):
prosecutor vehicular crimes prosecutor for twenty years, I can tell
you there is not one family member out there that
is going to care what the substance was that the
impaired driver was under the influence when they took their
loved one's life.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
The bottom line is if they're impaired, they're impaired, and
they need to be held accountable, and that's what's missing.
That's what the governor was trying to fix, and that's
something that has been needed to be fixed for the
last eighteen years.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Well. Turning back to the issue of traffic safety more broadly,
what sort of metrics does the committee track and sort
of judge its progress against in order to tell whether
you're moving in the right direction.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
So we work very closely with IT'SMER and I'm blanking
on what IT'SMER stands for right at this moment, but
it's let's see, Institute for Traffic Safety Management Research, that's
what it is there.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
We actually we give.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Them grant money to help keep up with what's going on,
and we do a five year look back, and it's
a moving rolling five years to see.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Where we are and where.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
We currently are, and then we look at what those
trends are and that kind of focuses us on what
we want to really attack in any particular year. For example,
this year we wanted the focus to be on in
pair driving, on speed and on motorcycles because we saw
that those numbers are going up and not in a
(10:36):
good way. And just in twenty twenty three there were
over one thousand people killed in car crashes in New
York State and it was actually like eleven and four.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
So just to put that into perspective.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
In that one year alone, that's the equivalent of approximately
six and a half Boeing seven thirty sevens crashing that year.
I mean, the numbers are staggering and it's something that
we need to get those numbers down. And again that's
why we rely on our partners like it'zmer to say, Okay,
(11:13):
these are the areas where we're seeing higher numbers, you know,
being injured or killed.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
And after a quick break, we'll continue our conversation about
the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee with Mary Tanner Richter, a
former prosecutor who is now Deputy Commissioner for Traffic Safety
and Investigations at the State Department of Motor Vehicles. When
we get back, we'll talk about the use of speed
cameras and also consider whether police pursuits may be contributing
(11:39):
to dangerous conditions on the roadways. If you're enjoying the
(12:19):
Capitol Pressroom, please consider making a recurring contribution to help
make our journalism possible. To show your support, visit Capitolpressroom
dot org. Slash donate. This is WCNIS the Capitol press
Room and we're continuing our conversation about the Governor's Traffic
Safety Committee, and our guest is Mary Tanner Richter, Deputy
(12:41):
Commissioner for Traffic Safety and Investigations at the State Department
of Motor Vehicles. When you think about the traffic safety
landscape right now, is it safer in twenty twenty five
than a year ago, than five years ago, than a decade.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Ago, It depends on what category your looking at. You know,
we were able to make a little bit of headway
on the drug driving fatalities, although those now are higher
than our alcohol fatalities. You know, COVID was a horrible,
horrible thing on a lot of different levels. One of
(13:18):
the things that got hit hard was traffic safety stops
were not being made, speeds were increasing, and even today
our numbers are not quite their ticket wise, and we
know enforcement is key to getting people to do the
right thing, whether they really want to or not. They're
more apt to do it if they know they're going
(13:39):
to be stopped. So cars are safer, but our drivers
not necessarily. I mean, we should be seeing a lot
lower number of fatals and injuries, given how safe all
the safety features cars have. But for instance, we're seeing
that less people are using their seat belts than they
have before. And there's only so much a car can do.
(14:03):
If you're not willing to put your seatbelt on. You know,
just in a second, you can save your life. You're
going to say the lives of the other people in
the car if you just buckle up.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
And yet people aren't doing it.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
So a lot of different permutations to be looked at.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Well. Something like a seat belt is something that is
covered by state law. In fact, we've updated the statue
in the last decade to require it in the back seats.
So is this an enforcement issue or is this an
area where the statute needs to be expanded or maybe
toughened up.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
You're never going to get me to say no to
tougher laws. Again, based on my twenty plus years and
having gone to way way too many fatal crash scenes,
I'm a big proponent of that. That's my prosecutor hat.
What I will say is we do need more enforcement.
We do need to get our law enforcement out there
(14:59):
and stop and writing those tickets. I think that the
public still is not aware that everybody has to buckle
up now, not just your front seat, not just you're
sixteen and under, but everyone has to buckle up. So
there's the education component that we still need to work on,
but there's also Yeah, law enforcement has to get out
(15:20):
there and be able to do that, and we need
to make sure they can still do that and not
take away that as a reason to stop a car.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Well, sticking with the idea of enforcement, the state budget
included language to expand the pilot program that the Throughway
Authority has been running, putting in place speed cameras in
work zones, as well as expanding cameras in other areas.
What do you see as the effectiveness of cameras and
should they become a larger part of the enforcement picture
(15:56):
as opposed to, say, relying on human personnel.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I think it's not one or the other. I think
that they really go hand in hand. I think that
the cameras I do think it makes a difference. I mean,
I think through a Authority even has some numbers that
show there's a difference when they've had the cameras in
a specific area versus not.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
I think it has to.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Go in conjunction though with law enforcement being there and
also having a presence on the roadway.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
But yeah, I think it's helpful.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Even though I know a lot of people are not
happy about it, I think it does make a difference.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
So we've been talking about speed cameras primarily in areas
of high speeds, but they're also used in say, more
urban areas, say as the terns around schools. Should they
be expanded more broadly in urban areas? Does it make
sense to have them, say in downtown Albany for example.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I guess the bottom.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Line is I'm just gonna say, I think that having
those speed cameras do make drivers stop and think and
slow down where they might not necessarily.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
So thinking about police, this summer, the state Attorney General's
office made recommendations on restricting when police can engage in
high speed pursuits because there's a general consensus that they
are dangerous for all involved, as well as people who
are not partaking in the chase, people might just be
(17:29):
pedestrians onlookers. Is that an area where your committee is
getting involved? Are you making any recommendations or studying this issue?
Speaker 2 (17:39):
No, we're not involved with that at all.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
And I think again, just going back to my prosecutor days.
I think nothing's black and white. There's not one answer
for all occasions. You know, you really have to I
think law enforcement needs to have the ability to pursue
when it's appropriate.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
You know.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
For example, and I can't remember how far back it was,
but there was, you know, an impaired driver who was
initially seen driving impaired. A pursuit happened, it was called off,
and I believe that driver then went on to later
crash and at least seriously andrew, if not kill somebody else.
(18:21):
You know, what are the obligations there? So I think
that there are certain times where it's appropriate. But should
it be used carte blanche?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Now it shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
What about the idea that we need to be moving
away from cars in general, both for the environmental reasons
but as a traffic safety benefit. Is that something that
you're looking to promote, Because we have this idea of
these more walkable communities and trying to rely less on automobiles,
and I have to imagine if people are just driving less,
(18:52):
then maybe we'll have less traffic collisions, less traffic problems.
So is that part of your work as well? Maybe
shifting the general mindset in communities.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
So we are very much involved in a whole safe
system approach, which also includes you know, uh changes in
in giving like walkable areas and things like that. We
actually every other year we are one of the partners
in a walk, bike Roll symposium where all of these
(19:26):
the engineers, you know, the planners, the you know, dot
various groups get together and talk about ways to sustain
and create environments for the non motorized public. So we
certainly we're never going to get rid of cars, and
(19:47):
I don't think one that's realistic. And I like my car,
you know, I'd like to be able to drive, but
we have to be open to both things. We got
to be, you know, have an environment that also allows
for those who want to just use a bike or
walk and not have the motorized vehicles as part of it.
(20:10):
They have to have to be able to do that
safely as well.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
More and more communities in New York are also lowering
their speed limits. We see thirty switching to twenty five
in a lot of communities. The state legislature has made
that a lot easier for them to do. Is that
something you're studying and if it does seem to have
demonstrable safety benefits. Will you be pushing that for communities
(20:36):
around New York.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Well, we know speed kills, right, We know that the
higher levels, the likelihood of survival become much less.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
So it's something that we're not at this time.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
We are not personally studying it, but we are keeping
very close tabs to those that are doing the studies
because I think pretty much every municipality that is currently
using them is providing those studies, and I think all
of me just put out some press statement I don't
know within the last couple of months that said their
(21:10):
crashes have gone down already even since they went to
their twenty five miles an hour, and that's a very
short period of time. So we are keeping tabs on it,
and certainly would look like to see a broader number
of years of what it is to really know for
sure if that lowering does make a difference, But it
(21:33):
seems as though at least in the short term, that
it is reducing the number of serious injury or fatal crashes.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Well, we've been speaking with Mary Tanner Richter. They're a
former prosecutor from the Capital Region who is now Deputy
Commissioner for traffic safety and investigations at the state Department
of Motor Vehicles, and we've been talking about the Governor's
Traffic Safety Committee. Mary, thank you so much for making
the time. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Well, thank you for having me. This has been great, David.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Support for the Capitol press room was provided by New
York State United Teachers, a statewide union of nearly seven
hundred thousand professionals in education and healthcare.
This is WCNYS the Capitol press Room, and we're checking
in on the work of the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee,
which includes representatives from thirteen agencies and is responsible for
coordinating traffic safety activities in New York. To discuss the work,
we're joined by Mary Tanner Richter, a former prosecutor in
the Capital Region who is now Deputy Commissioner for Traffic
(00:25):
Safety and Investigations at the State Department of Motor Vehicles.
Welcome to the show, Deputy.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Commissioner, Thank you, good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
So when we think of the work of this committee,
when it comes to the idea of traffic safety, is
this about primarily getting people to stop speeding? Is this
about impaired driving? Is it about being courteous in I
don't know, changing lanes? What seems to be your primary
focus as a committee, Well, it's.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
All of those things and more. We actually have eight
program areas that GTSC focuses on that includes impaired driving, speeding,
and pedestrian emobility. We've got motorcycles and commercial motor vehicles,
distracted driving, pretty much anything that affects users of our roadway,
(01:20):
whether other motorists or our pedestrians, our bicyclists, our motorcyclists,
you name it. We're trying to keep everyone safe and
get them to their destination without getting hurt.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Well, then, what are some of the ways that New Yorkers,
whether they're driving, walking, pedaling, might notice, say the fingerprints
of the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee. What are some maybe
the forward facing activities that you do.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So we're primarily a grant program, and what we do
we have, oh gosh, a ton of grantees and various areas.
We have law enforcement and state agencies that we partner
with as well as we have not for profit partners
as well.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And you'll see us in the schools.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
We do no empty chair where we're trying to tell
teens to make good decisions.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
You know, you'll see us with seat belt operations.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
We actually will go out sometimes with law enforcement on
their details and you know, for those high visibilities, so
we're we're behind the scene. But you also see us
at a rest stop. You know, look at the screens
that they have and all the rest stops in the Thruway,
and you're going to see some signage from GTSC, the
(02:40):
Governor's Traffic Safety Committee with those different areas you know,
slow down, move over and you know, don't drive and paired.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
And when you talk about something like grants, is the
committee primarily a conduit through which federal dollars are distributed
or are you helping to spend state investments as well.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
No, it's definitely the federal grant funding that comes through
GTSE and then yeah, we're the ones that distributed out
to our various grantees.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And how much money are we talking in terms of
maybe a single year gets to spent through your committee.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
I don't have the dollar figure right in front of me.
I believe it might be just under sixty million dollars.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
But we're talking a good chunk of change. This isn't
like one thousand dollars here and there.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
No, no, no, no, I mean some of our grants are
one thousand dollars or less, depending on what agency is.
But we also have the half million dollar grants as well.
So there's a lot of different activities we are involved
in and we support.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So the way our roadways are utilized is continuously changing,
whether it's with the advent of smartphones and trying to
keep people off their phones while dry or maybe the
increased use of ride sharing and now we've got to
say e scooters that are supposed to be sharing the
road in some cases, and electric bikes. So how do
(04:12):
you keep up with the evolving demands of safety.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Well, that's where our program reps come in.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And actually we do have a program REP that's dedicated
to emobility because that's popping up all over. That's kind
of a hot topic these days. But we're constantly evolving.
We're looking at those trends, We're looking at what's new
out there. We're talking with our sister states to see
what you know, other states are dealing with that maybe
(04:40):
isn't here yet, but it's on the horizon, and then
we try to be proactive in handling that. You know,
the big change in New York with the legalization of cannabis,
that's something that certainly was on our radar and we
wanted to increase the number of drug recognition.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Experts that we had out there.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
As well as additional training for those non experts.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
But our law.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Enforcement partners to recognize that and make sure that those
drivers who are impaired are also taken off the road.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, that issue of drug recognition enforcement is sometimes viewed
controversially because there are some people who see it more
as a pseudoscience, since it might be difficult to tell
how a drug is presenting in one person versus another.
So how do you try to help law enforcement navigate
(05:37):
this area that can kind of have some minefields in it.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Well, it's tricky, right, And what I've sat in and on,
some of the training to become a drug recognition expert
is very intensive training and study and before you can
even become one, and then you have to continually keep
up with the training in order to remain certified. So
(06:05):
the things that our drug recognition experts don't do is
they don't tell you exactly which drug it is.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
They will not name a drug. What they will name
is a category of drugs. And this is.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Something that this has been vetted with you know, medical doctors.
We're part of the whole twelve step process and coming
up with it. What we do is we don't rely
solely on our drug recognition experts, but they are a
very important tool in drug driving investigations. But it's just
one of the many tools that we use. So one
(06:38):
of the big things though that we're doing is we're
making sure that our drug recognition experts are the best
of the best, and we're keeping the quality high in
order to maintain the accuracy of what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Well, before we move on, let me reintroduce you for
listeners just joining us. This is the Capital press Room
and we're speaking with Mary Tanner Richter, the Deputy Commission
for Traffic Safety and Investigations at the State Department of
Motor Vehicles. So, speaking of tools, when it comes to
this threat of drivers under the influence, do you feel
(07:11):
like law enforcement has enough authority to hold people accountable
if they are driving under the influence or driving while impaired,
or is there a need to expand say their statutory
authority and the tools that they can have.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
So here's what I'm going to say about that they
have the tools. The problem is the way the law
currently is in New York for drugged driving, they have
to be able to name the drug that's involved, and
that drug has to be on Public Health Law thirty
three oh six. And the governor recognized that even in
(07:51):
her this last budget year, she put in changes to
that to give law enforcement the additional tool they need
in order to be able to get impair drivers off
the road because it's virtually impossible to identify the exact drug.
They can identify a category, that's a much easier lift,
(08:12):
but to identify the exact drug would be virtually impossible
without having you know, the blood sample and admissions made
by the driver. So New York is only one of
four states that requires the drug to be named and
to be on the list before you can actually charge
and prosecute a person. And it just it doesn't make sense.
(08:35):
And law enforcement doesn't have to name what type of
alcohol a subject was consuming when they got impaired when
they drove, just that they were under the influence of alcohol.
The same should be true for drugs. We shouldn't have
to identify the specific drug before we can hold that
person accountable. And quite frankly, you know, having been a
(08:55):
prosecutor vehicular crimes prosecutor for twenty years, I can tell
you there is not one family member out there that
is going to care what the substance was that the
impaired driver was under the influence when they took their
loved one's life.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
The bottom line is if they're impaired, they're impaired, and
they need to be held accountable, and that's what's missing.
That's what the governor was trying to fix, and that's
something that has been needed to be fixed for the
last eighteen years.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Well. Turning back to the issue of traffic safety more broadly,
what sort of metrics does the committee track and sort
of judge its progress against in order to tell whether
you're moving in the right direction.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
So we work very closely with IT'SMER and I'm blanking
on what IT'SMER stands for right at this moment, but
it's let's see, Institute for Traffic Safety Management Research, that's
what it is there.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
We actually we give.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Them grant money to help keep up with what's going on,
and we do a five year look back, and it's
a moving rolling five years to see.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Where we are and where.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
We currently are, and then we look at what those
trends are and that kind of focuses us on what
we want to really attack in any particular year. For example,
this year we wanted the focus to be on in
pair driving, on speed and on motorcycles because we saw
that those numbers are going up and not in a
(10:36):
good way. And just in twenty twenty three there were
over one thousand people killed in car crashes in New
York State and it was actually like eleven and four.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
So just to put that into perspective.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
In that one year alone, that's the equivalent of approximately
six and a half Boeing seven thirty sevens crashing that year.
I mean, the numbers are staggering and it's something that
we need to get those numbers down. And again that's
why we rely on our partners like it'zmer to say, Okay,
(11:13):
these are the areas where we're seeing higher numbers, you know,
being injured or killed.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
And after a quick break, we'll continue our conversation about
the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee with Mary Tanner Richter, a
former prosecutor who is now Deputy Commissioner for Traffic Safety
and Investigations at the State Department of Motor Vehicles. When
we get back, we'll talk about the use of speed
cameras and also consider whether police pursuits may be contributing
(11:39):
to dangerous conditions on the roadways. If you're enjoying the
(12:19):
Capitol Pressroom, please consider making a recurring contribution to help
make our journalism possible. To show your support, visit Capitolpressroom
dot org. Slash donate. This is WCNIS the Capitol press
Room and we're continuing our conversation about the Governor's Traffic
Safety Committee, and our guest is Mary Tanner Richter, Deputy
(12:41):
Commissioner for Traffic Safety and Investigations at the State Department
of Motor Vehicles. When you think about the traffic safety
landscape right now, is it safer in twenty twenty five
than a year ago, than five years ago, than a decade.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Ago, It depends on what category your looking at. You know,
we were able to make a little bit of headway
on the drug driving fatalities, although those now are higher
than our alcohol fatalities. You know, COVID was a horrible,
horrible thing on a lot of different levels. One of
(13:18):
the things that got hit hard was traffic safety stops
were not being made, speeds were increasing, and even today
our numbers are not quite their ticket wise, and we
know enforcement is key to getting people to do the
right thing, whether they really want to or not. They're
more apt to do it if they know they're going
(13:39):
to be stopped. So cars are safer, but our drivers
not necessarily. I mean, we should be seeing a lot
lower number of fatals and injuries, given how safe all
the safety features cars have. But for instance, we're seeing
that less people are using their seat belts than they
have before. And there's only so much a car can do.
(14:03):
If you're not willing to put your seatbelt on. You know,
just in a second, you can save your life. You're
going to say the lives of the other people in
the car if you just buckle up.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
And yet people aren't doing it.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
So a lot of different permutations to be looked at.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Well. Something like a seat belt is something that is
covered by state law. In fact, we've updated the statue
in the last decade to require it in the back seats.
So is this an enforcement issue or is this an
area where the statute needs to be expanded or maybe
toughened up.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
You're never going to get me to say no to
tougher laws. Again, based on my twenty plus years and
having gone to way way too many fatal crash scenes,
I'm a big proponent of that. That's my prosecutor hat.
What I will say is we do need more enforcement.
We do need to get our law enforcement out there
(14:59):
and stop and writing those tickets. I think that the
public still is not aware that everybody has to buckle
up now, not just your front seat, not just you're
sixteen and under, but everyone has to buckle up. So
there's the education component that we still need to work on,
but there's also Yeah, law enforcement has to get out
(15:20):
there and be able to do that, and we need
to make sure they can still do that and not
take away that as a reason to stop a car.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Well, sticking with the idea of enforcement, the state budget
included language to expand the pilot program that the Throughway
Authority has been running, putting in place speed cameras in
work zones, as well as expanding cameras in other areas.
What do you see as the effectiveness of cameras and
should they become a larger part of the enforcement picture
(15:56):
as opposed to, say, relying on human personnel.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I think it's not one or the other. I think
that they really go hand in hand. I think that
the cameras I do think it makes a difference. I mean,
I think through a Authority even has some numbers that
show there's a difference when they've had the cameras in
a specific area versus not.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
I think it has to.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Go in conjunction though with law enforcement being there and
also having a presence on the roadway.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
But yeah, I think it's helpful.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Even though I know a lot of people are not
happy about it, I think it does make a difference.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
So we've been talking about speed cameras primarily in areas
of high speeds, but they're also used in say, more
urban areas, say as the terns around schools. Should they
be expanded more broadly in urban areas? Does it make
sense to have them, say in downtown Albany for example.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I guess the bottom.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Line is I'm just gonna say, I think that having
those speed cameras do make drivers stop and think and
slow down where they might not necessarily.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
So thinking about police, this summer, the state Attorney General's
office made recommendations on restricting when police can engage in
high speed pursuits because there's a general consensus that they
are dangerous for all involved, as well as people who
are not partaking in the chase, people might just be
(17:29):
pedestrians onlookers. Is that an area where your committee is
getting involved? Are you making any recommendations or studying this issue?
Speaker 2 (17:39):
No, we're not involved with that at all.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
And I think again, just going back to my prosecutor days.
I think nothing's black and white. There's not one answer
for all occasions. You know, you really have to I
think law enforcement needs to have the ability to pursue
when it's appropriate.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
You know.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
For example, and I can't remember how far back it was,
but there was, you know, an impaired driver who was
initially seen driving impaired. A pursuit happened, it was called off,
and I believe that driver then went on to later
crash and at least seriously andrew, if not kill somebody else.
(18:21):
You know, what are the obligations there? So I think
that there are certain times where it's appropriate. But should
it be used carte blanche?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Now it shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
What about the idea that we need to be moving
away from cars in general, both for the environmental reasons
but as a traffic safety benefit. Is that something that
you're looking to promote, Because we have this idea of
these more walkable communities and trying to rely less on automobiles,
and I have to imagine if people are just driving less,
(18:52):
then maybe we'll have less traffic collisions, less traffic problems.
So is that part of your work as well? Maybe
shifting the general mindset in communities.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
So we are very much involved in a whole safe
system approach, which also includes you know, uh changes in
in giving like walkable areas and things like that. We
actually every other year we are one of the partners
in a walk, bike Roll symposium where all of these
(19:26):
the engineers, you know, the planners, the you know, dot
various groups get together and talk about ways to sustain
and create environments for the non motorized public. So we
certainly we're never going to get rid of cars, and
(19:47):
I don't think one that's realistic. And I like my car,
you know, I'd like to be able to drive, but
we have to be open to both things. We got
to be, you know, have an environment that also allows
for those who want to just use a bike or
walk and not have the motorized vehicles as part of it.
(20:10):
They have to have to be able to do that
safely as well.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
More and more communities in New York are also lowering
their speed limits. We see thirty switching to twenty five
in a lot of communities. The state legislature has made
that a lot easier for them to do. Is that
something you're studying and if it does seem to have
demonstrable safety benefits. Will you be pushing that for communities
(20:36):
around New York.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Well, we know speed kills, right, We know that the
higher levels, the likelihood of survival become much less.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
So it's something that we're not at this time.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
We are not personally studying it, but we are keeping
very close tabs to those that are doing the studies
because I think pretty much every municipality that is currently
using them is providing those studies, and I think all
of me just put out some press statement I don't
know within the last couple of months that said their
(21:10):
crashes have gone down already even since they went to
their twenty five miles an hour, and that's a very
short period of time. So we are keeping tabs on it,
and certainly would look like to see a broader number
of years of what it is to really know for
sure if that lowering does make a difference, But it
(21:33):
seems as though at least in the short term, that
it is reducing the number of serious injury or fatal crashes.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Well, we've been speaking with Mary Tanner Richter. They're a
former prosecutor from the Capital Region who is now Deputy
Commissioner for traffic safety and investigations at the state Department
of Motor Vehicles, and we've been talking about the Governor's
Traffic Safety Committee. Mary, thank you so much for making
the time. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Well, thank you for having me. This has been great, David.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Support for the Capitol press room was provided by New
York State United Teachers, a statewide union of nearly seven
hundred thousand professionals in education and healthcare.
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