State budget: ‘Super Speeders’ crackdown bill, Hochul’s auto insurance reforms are part of ‘general’ agreement

The state’s top executive announced the items included in the accord between herself, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie over a $268 billion spending plan during an Albany news conference on May 7. The purported agreement, which Heastie disputed to reporters following the announcement, came more than a month beyond the April 1 state budget deadline, and after lawmakers approved seven extenders just to keep state government functioning.

‘Super Speeders’ in state’s sights

Hochul said the preliminary deal she reached with lawmakers includes a proposal to rein in repeated scofflaw drivers, known as the “Stop Super Speeders” bill.

While final budget language was not yet available, Hochul said the measure would broadly require New York City drivers who rack up at least 16 speed camera tickets in a year to install speed-limiting devices — also known as intelligent speed assistance technology — in their vehicles. Once drivers have installed the devices, a cost they will be required to shoulder themselves, the technology will prevent them from exceeding the speed limit by more than five miles.

Brian Mahanna, counsel to the governor, told reporters that drivers will be notified with each violation they receive that they could have to install the device after being hit with their 16th speeding violation and will continue to be notified after that point.

The governor said the legislation is about protecting both pedestrians and other drivers by slowing down the most dangerous motorists on the road.

“These are consistent people who are so callous they don’t care about the laws that are in place to protect everybody else who’s on the street, including other motorists,” Hochul told reporters following her budget rollout. “People should not be terrified to push a baby stroller down their street. They should not be afraid to cross the street if you’re a senior citizen.”

Safe streets advocates and sponsors of the legislation have long sought it as a way to combat the most out-of-control drivers and lower their risk of causing traffic deaths or severe injuries.

Darnell Sealy-McCrorey, a member of the group Families for Safe Streets whose daughter Niyell was killed by a speeding driver, said in a statement that with the bill’s impending passage, he can “finally sleep at night knowing that New York will slow down the most reckless drivers on our streets.”

“Over the countless phone calls, rallies, and trips to Albany working to pass Stop Super Speeders, I’ve fought for children to have the future that was stolen from my daughter, Niyell,” he added. “Niyell deserved so much better, and I hope that with this bill, other children just like her will grow up to live the futures they deserve.” 

Hochul included the long-gestating proposal in her executive budget plan after it passed the state Senate but failed to get through the Assembly last year. Heastie was reportedly the main roadblock to the legislation being included in the budget, after the state Senate put it into its own plan, but appears to have relented.

The legislation will officially be enacted as a pilot program, but will be in place for five years, according to Hochul’s office.

It will be implemented by the city Department of Transportation (DOT), which has signaled support for it throughout the budget process, Hochul said. DOT will choose a specific vendor for the speed-limiting devices.

“Vehicles with 16 camera violations in a year are 2x as likely to be involved in a crash involving death or serious injury,” DOT spokesperson Nick Benson wrote on X following Hochul’s event. “We know the likeliest vehicles to be involved in the next tragedy. Now we’ll be able to prevent it.”

Auto insurance reform

The governor also announced that the budget agreement includes a controversial proposal that she invested much of her political capital behind to lower auto insurance rates in New York.

Hochul has consistently framed the effort as a way to lessen skyrocketing costs for working-class New Yorkers, as she seeks reelection this year. She has said that New York drivers pay the highest auto insurance rates “in the nation” — a phenomenon she has blamed on rampant fraud in the system.

“New York’s broken system was driving up costs for families and businesses,” Hochul said. “Staged crashes, organized fraud rings, corrupt doctors, and legal loopholes that bad actors have exploited for years.”

The proposal has drawn fierce opposition from the New York Trial Lawyers Association and safe streets advocates, who argue it will make it harder for crash victims to pursue damages for injuries they suffered at the hands of drivers. It has been particularly criticized for the large sums a group backed by rideshare giant Uber has spent on advertising and lobbying in its favor.

The version of the reforms that made it into the budget is largely the same as Hochul originally proposed, Streetsblog reported earlier this week.

It will narrow the definition of a “serious injury,” allowing victims to pursue damages for pain and suffering beyond the $50,000 covered by no-fault insurance, while excluding non-permanent injuries that prevent victims from working for over 90 days. It will also make it so those found to be over 50% responsible for a crash can no longer get a payout — something that is allowed under current rules.

Hochul said that the change amounts to closing a loophole that has allowed fraudsters to get “large payouts in the courtrooms.” But opponents say it will leave out those who suffer brain or soft tissue injuries in crashes.

The deal will also limit what information insurance companies can use to set rates.

“We’re making sure the insurance companies are playing fair as well,” she said. “You’ll no longer have your rates set based on your education, your zip code, code, or what you do for work.”

However, the deal will not include the part of Hochul’s proposal that would have changed joint and several liability, which currently makes it so those found to bare very little responsibility for a could end up having to pay all of the damages. according to her office.

The governor and MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber had pitched that change as a way to help the transit agency save money on what they referred to as “jackpot” insurance payouts when bus drivers are involved in crashes they are found to have single digit responsibility for.

Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission fiscal watchdog group, lauded the proposal’s inclusion in the budget in a statement, while lamenting that it was slightly watered down.

“Reforms to auto insurance that fix New York’s liability standards and control unjustified outsized payouts will save New Yorkers money,” he said. “Unfortunately, the final deal didn’t include the governor’s smart proposal to fix joint and several liability.”