WOODSIDE — New York City streets were safer in 2015 than in any other year for more than a century, with traffic fatalities at historic lows, officials said Tuesday at an event touting Vision Zero improvements.
And since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office, the city has seen a steady decline in traffic fatalities for the first time in over a decade, officials said.
Last year, 231 people were killed in traffic fatalities in the city, including 134 pedestrians — statistics officials say are the lowest numbers since record-keeping began in 1910.
De Blasio credited the decline to his Vision Zero initiative, and pledged to spend $115 million to install additional traffic calming measures on city streets in 2016.
"We are serious about saving lives," the mayor said in a statement.
In the two years that Vision Zero has been underway, 66 fewer people were killed — a 27 percent drop compared with 2013, according to the city.
De Blasio joined local officials Tuesday to walk along the new Queens Boulevard bike lane before talking about the new initiatives.
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Lizi Rahman, whose son Asif was killed while riding his bike in 2008, credited the mayor for doing what she feared may be impossible: adding bike lanes to a street dubbed the "Boulevard of Death."
"I'd like to thank the vision of Mayor de Blasio, without his leadership, a bike lane on Queens Boulevard would never happen," she said.
The city will continue its Vision Zero initiative into 2016, adding millions in the preliminary budget, set to be announced this week, for more capital projects.
De Blasio said one of the major fixes will be to left turn lanes, which account for 30 percent of crashes involving pedestrians, he said
They'll design new turns at 100 intersections, and will add more if they're successful, the mayor said.
"If look at our record, I'm very proud of the work we’ve done," DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said.
