Staten Island Pedestrian Accidents
STATEN ISLAND, NY – According to a news article on streetsblog.org, fatal pedestrian accidents have been reduced by about 50% in all of New York City’s boroughs, all but Staten Island. New York’s Department of Transportation has been implementing its pedestrian safety plans aimed at reducing pedestrian accidents on Staten Island. The DOT’s priority areas include areas where approximately three-quarters of Staten Island’s pedestrian fatalities or serious injuries transpired.
New York City’s population has grown by 19%, and the number of fatal pedestrian accidents in the city has dropped by almost 50% over the past 30 years. However, Staten Island has seen a population boom of 30 percent, and the number of fatal pedestrian accidents has not declined.
Staten Island averages about 40 pedestrian accidents with injuries and about seven fatal pedestrian accidents each year. Even though Staten Island’s fatal pedestrian accident rate of 1.4 pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 citizens is much lower than the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, or Queens, Staten Island is not the safest borough for pedestrians.
New York’s Department of Transportation has stated that most of Staten Island’s population is auto-dependent, with about 82 percent of families owning one or more motor vehicles. Nearly two-thirds of Staten Islanders drive a motor vehicle to work, which is double the citywide average.
The North Shore section of Staten Island has the most number of pedestrian accident deaths, and this area is less vehicle-dependent than the rest of Staten Island. For example, the region north of the Staten Island Expressway and east of the Bayonne Bridge accounts for around 45% of Staten Island’s pedestrian accidents with serious injuries and fatalities. However, the area only accounts for about 18 percent of the island’s land area.
According to the news report, afternoons and evenings are the most deadly times of the day for pedestrians. Approximately 80% of fatal pedestrian accidents on Staten Island happen between 3 PM and 9 PM. Two in three fatal pedestrian accidents on Staten Island occur on arterial streets. The New York Department of Transportation discovered that 16 corridors accounted for 40 percent of the fatal pedestrian accidents on Staten Island. The percentage of fatal or serious injury pedestrian accidents on Staten Island jumps to 72% when these corridors are combined with priority intersections and locations.
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