NEW DORP — A rise in traffic deaths has caused a push to tackle dangerous driving in Staten Island.
While fatalities decreased by nearly 12 percent citywide, Staten Island bucked the trend with 21 deaths so far this year, up from 15 in 2014, according to the Department of Transportation.
"The NYPD and the DOT are redoubling our efforts today to talk to folks and remind them to drive safely," said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.
"It's hard to find a common pattern, there seems to be a number of things involved: impaired driving, careless driving."
Many of the deaths occurred on Hylan Boulevard — dubbed the "Boulevard of Death" by some activists — with eight so far this year, up from four in 2014.
On Monday, members of the "Vision Zero street team" handed out pamphlets on safer driving at the intersection of Hylan Boulevard and New Dorp Lane.
The city has also added fencing in the middle of intersections to encourage pedestrians to use the crosswalk and also changed the lights to give them more time to cross before cars can start moving, Trottenberg said.
"We are taking a look at things we can do quickly, like leading pedestrian intervals and fencing," Trottenberg said.
"We are going to take a look at some bigger engineering things we can do as well."
Aside from the DOT's efforts, the NYPD also said it would increase enforcement around local streets and have already given out 48 percent more speeding tickets and 29 percent more failure to yield violations this year, according to NYPD transportation chief Thomas Chan.
"We’re going to see more of a presence by our highway officers and local precincts doing enforcement on the local streets where we have more pedestrians," Chan said.
Last year, Mayor Bill de Blasio launched the Vision Zero program aimed at reducing the number of traffic fatalities and cracking down on dangerous driving around the city. As part of the program, the mayor lowered the speed limit on local streets from 30 mph to 25 mph.
Chan also said that the majority of the pedestrians killed were hit by drivers making a left turn and urged them to pay attention while in the crosswalk and stay off their phones.
"We need the motorist to slow down," he said. "We need the pedestrians to also pay attention."
