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DOT Refuses to Make Crash Data Public

By DNAinfo Staff on November 4, 2010 5:13pm

The scene after a delivery man was hit by a cab on the Upper West Side earlier this year.
The scene after a delivery man was hit by a cab on the Upper West Side earlier this year.
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DNAinfo/David Torres

By Jill Colvin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

CITY HALL — The City Council's push to publicize crash data hit another roadblock on Thursday when the Department of Transportation (DOT) argued it wasn't their job to publish the statistics.

The City Council has introduced a bill that would require the DOT to report the number of crashes in the city among cyclists and between bicycles, pedestrians and other vehicles — information currently not available to the public, City Councilman James Vacca said.

Advocates say that lawmakers and other groups desperately need the data to accurately assess the city's new bike lanes and other roadway changes and identify problem areas.

But DOT Deputy Commissioner David Woloch said it wasn't the department’s job to provide the data, which was compiled for them by the State Department of Transportation and the NYPD.

David Woloch, a Deputy Commissioner at the New York City Department of Transportation, answered questions about releasing bicycle crash data at a City Council hearing Thursday.
David Woloch, a Deputy Commissioner at the New York City Department of Transportation, answered questions about releasing bicycle crash data at a City Council hearing Thursday.
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DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

"Is there any reason that you can think of from the DOT why this information should not be public?" Midtown East City Councilman Daniel Garodnick demanded during a heated exchange at a Transportation Committee hearing Thursday.

"It’s [the NYPD’s] information," Woloch responded. “I would say that’s a question for them.”

In fact, when the legislation was originally written, it was directed at police.

But at a Public Safety Committee hearing in April, the NYPD said that forcing the department to release the statistics would place an undue burden on the already overtaxed department.

"The data required by the bill would not further our mutual goal of making the city’s streets safer," testified James Tuller, the NYPD’s chief of transportation.

Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne later issued a statement saying the bill "would result in the misguided use of scarce police resources at a time when the department is already addressing the issue."

An NYPD spokeswoman declined to comment on the issue.

East Side Councilwoman Jessica Lappin said she was deeply frustrated by both city agencies' reluctance to share information they already have.

The police, she charged, "don’t think the public can handle the truth. We can handle the truth. And we will."

Following the hearing, a frustrated Garodnick called the finger-pointing "unacceptable" and said the committee would move forward with the bill.

"It doesn’t matter who turns it over. This information belongs to the public," he said.

In addition to the cyclist data, the Council also discussed a bill that would force the DOT to publish comprehensive crash data on its website, much like the NYPD’s CompStat system. The data would include what kind of vehicles involved and the reasons for the crash, and would be updated at least once a week.

The committee also wants the DOT to do a better job communicating with residents by providing a written explanation every time it disapproves a request to install new stop signs, traffic signals or make other traffic changes, which it currently does not do.

"It’s very frustrating," Vacca said of the current system. "I think people are entitled to an explanation and a rationale."

Woloch agreed with the premise, saying "There is no question that we can do a better job explaining why we're making these improvements."

However he said that with more than 4,000 requests a year, providing explanations would be so time-consuming that it would compromise the departments' work.

The bills must now be voted on by the committee before heading to the full council.