It wouldn’t be hyperbolic to say New York City streets have become a bloody mess in 2019, according to a recent report published in Streetsblog NYC, an online pub that provides important public safety information for New York City dwellers.
It’s obvious based on data contained in the Streetsblog article that Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero Action Plan is clearly not delivering on the promise. Launched with much fanfare on February 18, 2014, the plan outlined the Mayor’s ambitious goal to significantly reduce auto and traffic-related deaths on New York City streets. So how’s the best-laid plan working?
A quick perusal of the facts contained in the Streetsblog report, shows that NYPD reports fatalities were up 38.5 percent in first three months of 2019. According to the report, 54 people were killed in vehicle-related accidents from Jan. 1 through April 7 — up from 39 in the same period last year.
At that pace, Streetsblog notes, fatalities are on pace to reach roughly 280 deaths by the end of the year, up from the 202 YOY.
“A combination of speeding, using mobile devices while behind the wheel and driving under the influence were the major culprits,” Jay W. Dankner, Managing Partner of the top midtown New York City car accident injury
law firm of Dankner Milstein, P.C. said.
Total injuries are also up even as the number of reported collisions is down 3.4 percent. No surprise to anyone who traverses the mess New York City streets have become. Injuries to cyclists are up 9.2 percent, with 723 people injured so far this year — an average of more than seven people per day are hurt or killed on a bicycle.
“With so many layers of lanes for bikes and cars and virtually anything on wheels, even the most seasoned city dweller takes one step off the curb and they put life and limb at risk,” Dankner warned.
Actual total collision numbers look even worse. According to Streetsblog, there have been 56,405 collisions reported to the NYPD across the city in the first quarter of 2019 — 10,551 of which caused injuries to a pedestrian, a cyclist or a motorist.
“Drivers are target agnostic,” Dankner said. “They ram their cars into each other, into stationary objects and, of course, into people hundreds of thousands of times every year.”
Streetsblog to a look at the gruesome statistics for the most heavily populated boroughs in the city and here’s what they found (the following data was taken verbatim from the Streetsblog report):
- In Brooklyn North, fatalities are up 20 percent — from five last year to six so far this year.
- In Brooklyn South, fatalities have more than doubled, from six last year to 13 this year. Five of those deaths came in the last 28 days of March. Injuries to cyclists are up 14.4 percent.
- In The Bronx, fatalities are up from six last year to eight so far this year, an increase of 33.3 percent. Injuries to cyclists are also up 23.5 percent.
- In Manhattan North, there have been four people killed so far this year, up from two over the same period last year.
- In Manhattan South, three people have died, up from two. And cycling injuries are up 20 percent
- In Queens North, a slight uptick in overall collisions has led to an increase in fatalities from seven to 10 in Q 1 2019, for a jump of 42.9 percent. Injuries to people who bike are up 32 percent in the same period.
- In Queens South, fatalities are down to seven this year, from nine in Q 1 YOY, but injuries are way up. Cyclist injuries are up 21 percent, pedestrian injuries are up 3 percent, and driver injuries are up 6.7 percent. There have been 7,545 crashes in just that portion of the borough through the end of March, or roughly 77 per day.
- In Staten Island, the carnage continues, albeit with lower raw numbers because of the borough’s lower population. Fatalities are up from two last year to three so in months one through three, and total injuries are up 26.4 percent. Even on quiet Staten Island, there are roughly 28 crashes per day.
Just a glance at NYPD data, and it should come as no surprise to any intrepid New Yorkers that left turns are much more likely than right turns to cause injury to pedestrians, bicyclists and anyone else cruising around town on a two wheel vehicle. Left-turning drivers killed 21 pedestrians last year — roughly 18 percent of the total 115 that were killed by motorists, according to the NYPD.
For more information, or if you have been in an auto accident and are injured contact the top New York auto accident injury law firm of Dankner Milstein, P.C. by calling 212-751-8000. Or you can E-mail one of the firm’s lawyers for a free
consultation.
