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De Blasio to Boost Vision Zero Efforts as Pedestrian Deaths Jump 5 Percent

By Jeff Mays | November 30, 2016 2:48pm
 New York City is renewing its efforts at drastically reducing the number of traffic fatalities under it's Vision Zero plan as traffic deaths remain steady and pedestrian deaths show a slight increase, said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
New York City is renewing its efforts at drastically reducing the number of traffic fatalities under it's Vision Zero plan as traffic deaths remain steady and pedestrian deaths show a slight increase, said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
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DNAinfo/Rachel Holliday Smith

ONE POLICE PLAZA — New York City is renewing its efforts to reduce the number of traffic fatalities under its Vision Zero plan as pedestrian deaths are up, said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

"The bottom line is: Vision Zero has just begun," de Blasio said of the effort which launched in 2014.

"What you saw in 2014 and 2015 was a radical change. The number of traffic fatalities, particularly fatalities among pedestrians, started to shoot downward because we did things that needed to be done," such as reducing the speed limit, changing traffic patterns and adding NYPD enforcement to areas known for speeding and failure to yield to pedestrians, the mayor added.

Even so, as of Nov. 28, the city recorded 204 traffic fatalities, a decrease of 2.5 percent (or five deaths) from the 209 fatalities the same time last year. But the number of pedestrian deaths has increased 5 percent to 126 as of Nov. 28 compared to 120 this same time last year.

READ MORE: MAP: Only 15 Percent of Drivers Who Kill People Face Vision Zero Charges

"There is much, much more to do," said de Blasio, who added the city is using data to help reduce traffic deaths.

The city launched a "Dusk and Darkness" safety effort on Oct. 27. When daylight savings time ends and it gets darker earlier and stays darker for longer, the city noticed an uptick in traffic deaths, said NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill.

There are "dangers that come when we turn those clocks back — the sun setting early in the day coinciding with the afternoon rush hour," said O'Neill. "It’s the dangers that face motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians in the fall and winter months."

To target that problem, the NYPD increased night and evening enforcement from 4 to 9 p.m., specifically focusing on failure-to-yield and distracted driving violations. From Oct. 27 through last week, the NYPD issued 50,000 hazardous moving violations summonses, including more than 12,000 for disobeying a traffic sign, more than 5,200 for improper turns, more than 4,200 for failure to yield to pedestrians,  and more than 4,800 summonses for illegal cell phone use while driving.

As a result, traffic fatalities fell 50 percent in the month since the "Dusk and Darkness" effort launched on Oct. 27, with 13 people dying in traffic accidents. There was an average of 24 deaths during the same period from 2010 to 2014 and 30 traffic fatalities in 2015, which was the safest year for traffic deaths in city history.

"We mourn every single one of those fatalities. Those aren’t just numbers for us. Those are our friends, our families, co-workers, our fellow New Yorkers," said Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, "but it’s a notable drop from where we were last year."

►READ MORE: Vision Zero Isn't on Track to End Traffic Deaths by 2024, Advocates Say

The NYPD also announced it was making collisions and Vision Zero data available to the public in the same way CompStat compiles crime statistics through its analytical website Traffic Stat.

"It’s designed to provide unprecedented access to NYPD collision statistics, essentially, to give the public the data and the tools that they need to...get a timely sense of where and when collisions are occurring," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Information Technology Jessica Tisch.

The NYPD is unaware of any other law enforcement agency in the world that is making this data available to the public on the web, she added.

Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, praised de Blasio's recommitment to Vision Zero and Traffic Stat, but said more needs to be done to reduce traffic deaths such as increasing the NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad and having sustained enforcement efforts against speeding and reckless driving.

"The most reliable way to reduce fatalities and injuries is through physical street safety upgrades like pedestrian refuge islands and protected bike lanes. And there are hundreds of streets and
intersections around the five boroughs that the City identified as especially dangerous “Vision Zero Priority Locations” nearly two years ago," White said in a statement.

►READ MORE: Judge Rules Vision Zero Law Unconstitutional as NYPD Increases Its Use

The city must make fixing these areas a budget priority and provide the funding to do so, he said.

Trottenberg said the city will end the year with a record number of street redesigns, including 18 miles of protected bike lanes and brighter LED lighting in 1,000 dangerous intersections.

De Blasio said "you ain’t seen nothing yet," when it comes to Vision Zero.

"This is just the beginning of something that is going to go much farther," he said. "What we have seen after the first two years is real progress."