Skip to main content

New York City sees reduction in pedestrian and cyclist fatalities

New York City has ended the first six months of 2017 with the fewest traffic fatalities ever measured, according to figures released by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Under the Vision Zero program, as of 30 June, the city had recorded 93 fatalities, the first time ever that fewer than 100 lives had been lost in such a period. The full fiscal year ending 30 June recorded 210 fatalities, 31 fewer than the prior fiscal year. The reductions come as the City is increasing traffic enforcement against dangerous violations
July 21, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
New York City has ended the first six months of 2017 with the fewest traffic fatalities ever measured, according to figures released by Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Under the Vision Zero program, as of 30 June, the city had recorded 93 fatalities, the first time ever that fewer than 100 lives had been lost in such a period.  The full fiscal year ending 30 June recorded 210 fatalities, 31 fewer than the prior fiscal year. The reductions come as the City is increasing traffic enforcement against dangerous violations like speeding and redesigning a record number of streets to make them safer.

The Vision Zero highlights from the first six months of 2017 include declines in year over year traffic fatalities since 2016 in most modes, including among pedestrians, where 47 fatalities were recorded as of 30 June, compared to 63 fatalities in first six months of 2016.

Declines by borough have been largest in Queens, with 23 fatalities in 2017 compared to 32 in 2016, in Manhattan, with 20 in 2017 down from 26 in 2016 and on Staten Island, with five fatalities this year, down from 11 last year.

FY 2017, which concluded on 30 June, was also the City’s safest fiscal year since record-keeping began, with 31 fewer traffic deaths than FY 2016 and over 70 fewer, a 24 per cent decline from FY14, the year Vision Zero was launched.  In contrast, from 2014-2106, according to the 4953 National Safety Council, the country as a whole has seen a 14 percent increase in traffic fatalities.

Related Content

  • The art of road safety
    June 10, 2022
    Saving lives on the road surely can’t be as easy as painting the town red – and pink, green and yellow? Or purple and blue? Can it? Adam Hill has a brush with Bloomberg Philanthropies
  • All-electronic toll collection success in Denver
    January 30, 2012
    Teri England, Diamond Consulting Services Ltd, describes the E-470's switchover to all-electronic toll collection. In June 2007, the E-470 Public Highway Authority made the business decision to transition to an All-Electronic Toll Collection (AETC) system - in other words, become a cashless road.
  • New legal basis brings EU wide cross border enforcement
    February 25, 2015
    Pan-EU enforcement is set to become a reality after legislation is revised. In May 2014 the European Court of Justice ruled that European Directive 2011/82/EU, which came into force in November 2013 to facilitate the exchange of information between member states in relation to eight road traffic offences, had been set up on an incorrect legal basis. The regulations had been introduced under police cooperation rules on the prevention of crime, but the Court decided that the measures in the Directive do not c
  • Ho Chi Minh City ‘must invest in transportation system’
    November 21, 2014
    Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) could generate economic benefits of US$1.4 billion by investing in making its transportation system more resilient in extreme weather conditions, a study released by Siemens and consulting firm Arup today shows. Siemens and the Arup prepared the study, to show how intelligent infrastructure can assist cities in addressing the increased demand and at the same time offer better protection of their transport networks against extreme weather events. Calculations based on a review o