NYC cut traffic deaths by 34% but street safety remains and issue

Earlier this month, New York Metropolis reported the third lowest visitors deaths year-to-date because the metropolis began accumulating such knowledge again in 1910. The progress builds off final 12 months, which marked the fewest fatalities ever with the sharpest declines within the outer boroughs — primarily, the Bronx.

“New York Metropolis leads the nation in lowering visitors deaths, with progress pushed by focused, data-informed avenue redesigns and focused enforcement towards dashing, red-light working, and different harmful driving behaviors,” mentioned NYC Division of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Mike Flynn in a press release, “however our work is much from completed — as a result of one dying is one too many. Underneath Mayor [Zohran] Mamdani, we’re constructing on the success of Imaginative and prescient Zero by pondering boldly and appearing with urgency to revamp our streets and use each obtainable device to maintain New Yorkers secure.”

What’s working? Transportation Options Communications Director Alexa Sledge mentioned a number of elements helped stem visitors deaths by 34% over time because the metropolis dedicated to Imaginative and prescient Zero, a Swedish-born coverage devoted to eliminating all pedestrian deaths, in 2014.

“It’s not likely one magic silver bullet, nevertheless it’s a whole lot of tiny adjustments over time — issues like placing in congestion pricing, widening sidewalks, including in protecting bike lanes,” mentioned Sledge. “As a result of we all know that issues like protected bike lanes make streets considerably safer for pedestrians, particularly senior pedestrians…in fact, there are streets and corridors and intersections that haven’t had these adjustments, and people locations are nonetheless actually lethal.”

She credited the Mamdani administration’s efforts to handle Brooklyn’s Linden Boulevard, the place a automobile fatally struck a 4-year-old boy in East New York final month. Final week, Mamdani introduced plans to create bus lanes and pedestrian crossings alongside the hall. The redesign is slated to be accomplished subsequent 12 months, in response to the NYC DOT.

In February, private damage legal professional Jeffrey Antin wrote a Imaginative and prescient Zero evaluation about pedestrian deaths being over-represented amongst older New Yorkers and other people dwelling in lower-income neighborhoods. He additionally pointed to the shortage of crossing time from pedestrian indicators on wider roads.

“Earlier than, mainly, you needed to dodge visitors to get throughout the road, as soon as the sunshine turned,” Antin mentioned over the cellphone. “Regardless of the case could also be, the pedestrians are 1777628469 given an opportunity to cross the road earlier than the sunshine for the vehicles flip inexperienced.”

Imaginative and prescient Zero proponents need lawmakers in Albany to cross the “Cease Tremendous Speeders” laws to proceed lowering traffic-related deaths. The invoice would set up a velocity limiter machine within the automobiles of drivers who accumulate greater than 16 velocity digicam violations in a 12 months or greater than 11 driving license factors over a 12 months and a half. Such expertise would offer a bodily restriction just like a automobile breathalyzer for perpetual DUI violators, moderately than merely assume {that a} suspended license is sufficient to deter somebody from getting behind the wheel.

Sledge additionally believes the town ought to present extra love towards Imaginative and prescient Zero enhancements alongside Harlem’s a hundred and twenty fifth Avenue, which serves as uptown’s key crosstown hall. She believes extra dependable public transit performs a key position in safer streets in a neighborhood the place solely roughly 1 / 4 of residents personal a automobile. Final month, a bicyclist was fatally struck on Harlem’s “Principal Avenue.”

“a hundred and twenty fifth Avenue is a no brainer,” mentioned Sledge. “Persons are utilizing it day by day; it’s a important crosstown hall. It connects between a number of boroughs. It wants critical consideration and care in the best way each different crosstown avenue is generally getting.”