Amy Cohen lost her 12-year-old son Sammy in 2013 to a speeding driver.

“It is unimaginable to lose a child, that Fabiola and I know all too well. We think as parents that we can create an invisible shield around our children,” Cohen said. “And we learned the hard way that’s not possible. This law will be a step toward that shield to keeping other people’s kids safe.”

What You Need To Know

  • Nearly four years after it was it was introduced, Sammy's Law will finally get a vote in the state legislature, and the governor is looking forward to signing it

  • The bill is named after 12-year-old Sammy Cohen Eckstein who was killed by a speeding driver in Brooklyn in 2013

  • Sammy's mother Amy, along with loved ones of others lost to traffic violence, formed Families for Safe Streets and are hoping the law will save others the trauma they experienced

Cohen was referring to Sammy’s Law, named after her son, now included in this year’s state budget. The law will allow the city to lower its speed limit to 20 mph on some streets.

The law has been fought for by members of the group Cohen co-founded, Families for Safe Streets, ever since State Sen. Brad-Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal introduced the bill four years ago.

“This is a common sense law that’s going to protect a lot of our families, our kids,” said Fabiola Mendiata-Cuapio, who lost her 5-year-old son Bryan to a reckless driver in 2006. “I cannot say enough about the trauma of walking your kid to school after losing a loved one. I don’t want to see any more parents go through the same thing.”

Through her advocacy, Cohen has been instrumental in other safety measures like the expansion of speed cameras, and the lowering of the speed limit from 30 to 25 mph back in 2014.

“Lowering the speed limit makes it much less likely that someone will even get hit, because when someone is going slower, they have so much more room to stop before they hit someone,” Cohen said. “And if they [do] hit someone, they are much more likely to live.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul said she supports the law and looks forward to signing it.

“I feel like it’s a success for the localities to do what they think [is] right for their constituents,” Hochul said. “I cannot wait to hug Sammy’s family and we’ll do an official signing, with a lot of tears I’m sure, but knowing that their advocacy resulted in a real win in his name.”

While the city’s Department of Transportation reports pedestrian fatalities in 2023 were the lowest in history outside of 2020, with 102, there have been 33 already this year, including many children. State Sen. Hoylman-Sigal said over 100 children have been killed in traffic violence since 2013.