New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that under the Vision Zero program, New York City had ended the first six months of 2018 with the fewest traffic fatalities ever measured in any six-month period.
According to a release from the Mayor’s Office, as of June 30th, the city had recorded 81 fatalities, the lowest ever in a six-month period, and only the second time that fewer than 100 lives had been lost in a half-year period. The Mayor also noted how the data continue to show New York City bucking national fatality trends, giving much of the credit to the speed-camera law, which because of State Senate inaction, now faces expiration later this month.
“No loss of life on our streets is acceptable,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Under Vision Zero, we have made enormous strides towards safer streets for all, with traffic fatalities declining for the past four-and-a-half-years. But we will never rest on our laurels, and will keep fighting for the safety of our fellow New Yorkers. The state Senate’s failure to act on speed cams puts this progress, and the lives of school children, at risk. They must act now – lives are at stake.”
The Vision Zero highlights from the first six months of 2018 include:
Fatalities are down or even in all modes except among motorcyclists. Cyclist fatalities dropped from 10 to 7, motor vehicle occupant fatalities fell from 27 to 15, while pedestrian fatalities remained at 47. Motorcyclist fatalities have increased from 11 to 12.
New York City’s previous record-low for traffic fatalities during a six-month period was the first half of 2017, when 95 fatalities were recorded.
Declines by borough have been largest in Manhattan (9 fatalities in 2018 compared to 21 in 2017) and in the Bronx (13 this year from 22 last year).
“Nowhere else in America has seen our continued year-over-year declines in traffic fatalities,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “Now, under the Mayor’s leadership, we are going on a fifth straight year of overall declines in fatalities with national trends going in the reverse direction. Given the central role we believe speed cameras have played in making our streets safer, we are however concerned that inaction by Albany could bring a tragic end to that progress. We urge the Stare Senate to return to Albany save lives by expanding and renewing our speed camera program.”
“From running background checks to conducting on-the-ground enforcement, the TLC ensures that professional drivers are on the road and holds its licensees accountable for driving safely. Our agency’s Vision Zero work ranges from field enforcement against speeding drivers and red light runners to ensuring that drivers with poor records don’t get behind the wheel of a taxi or for-hire vehicle,” said Commissioner Meera Joshi.
“We celebrate the diligent work of our city’s safest and most talented drivers at our annual Safety Honor Roll, and make certain that the thousands of new licensees every month who want to drive a TLC-licensed vehicle learn about Vision Zero and the rules of the road in mandatory driver education,” Joshi said.
“Vision Zero helps keep students safe as they travel to and from school, and we’ll continue working in close partnership with the NYPD and DOT to ensure a safe commute for all families,” said Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza. “We need the State Senate to act so that we can continue to have speed cameras in school zones over the summer and during the entire school year.”
Traffic fatalities have declined for four consecutive years under Vision Zero. Over that time, New York City has embraced a multi-faceted variety of changes in education, engineering and enforcement, including: lowered the City’s default speed limit to 25 MPH; targeted priority geographies in every borough through a historic number of street redesign projects; added over 2,000 new Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPIs) that serve as pedestrian head-starts; calmed dangerous left-turns; added more than 60 miles of protected bike lanes; and increased enforcement by NYPD of the City’s traffic laws. Finally, in addition to its robust camera enforcement program for speeding, the City also used automated enforcement against drivers who run red lights and drive in bus lanes, the Mayor’s Office added.
However, the Mayor noted that the speed camera enforcement program faces potential shutdown within weeks if the State Senate fails to act on the renewal and expansion. The program resulted in a 63 percent decline in speeding violations at a typical school-zone camera location, and 81 percent of vehicle owners who received a violation within a school zone did not receive a second violation.
State legislation currently allows for 140 school zone locations; legislation in Albany has passed the Assembly that would increase the number of zones to 290 and expand the enforcement area to within a quarter-mile of schools. The DOT has noted that 84 percent of deaths and severe injuries between 2012 and 2016 occurred at times or locations where cameras are prohibited. The renewal bill has 33 sponsors in the Senate where you only need 32 votes to pass any given bill. However, it still needs to be brought to a vote on the floor.
