NEW YORK, NY – According to nypost.com, deaths from traffic accidents across the city have dropped since Vision Zero was implemented in 2014, but that there are more overall accidents, and a rising number of traffic-related injuries as compared to before the program. Between 2014 and 2018, there was an 11 percent increase in crashes […]
Mayor Bill de Blasio
NEW YORK, NY – According to nypost.com, deaths from traffic accidents across the city have dropped since Vision Zero was implemented in 2014, but that there are more overall accidents, and a rising number of traffic-related injuries as compared to before the program.
Between 2014 and 2018, there was an 11 percent increase in crashes in the city. Injury causing crashes rose by about 18 percent, and between 2014 and 2018, there were about 9,458 more people injured.
While crashes and injuries are increasing, the number of total fatalities has been on a steady decline. In 2014, 140 pedestrians died on New York City streets, and last year 111 people were killed in these accidents. Overall traffic deaths dropped from 259 to 200.
More vehicles on the road and increasing congestion in the city is being blamed for the high number of crashes. According to Joe Cutrufo of Transportation Alternatives, the heavy traffic leads to drivers becoming irritated, and in turn, to more traffic accidents.
From 2012 to 2017, the number of private-vehicle registrations rose by 146,000, and there are also 52,000 new for-hire vehicles that have been registered in that time.
Despite the increase in traffic accidents, representatives from the Department of Transportation say that the city’s streets are still getting safer. To back the claims that the roads are safer, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation stated that the population has grown, tourism has increased, and there are more pedestrians and cyclists in the city, and yet overall fatalities are declining.
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration credits the low number of fatalities on the Vision Zero program and claims that the efforts are making progress, while there is still much work to do.
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