Safety on the roads of the Big Apple continues to be one of the great concerns of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians who travel daily through the five boroughs, even more so when 2023 has been one of the years with the most tragedies. In the first half of 2023 alone, vehicular incidents caused the death of 112 people, 7% more than the same period of the previous year, and among them, 18 cyclists, the highest number in the last decade, according to reports from organizations such as Transportation Alternatives.
And in its effort to put an end to the epidemic of deaths on the streets and highways of New York, which occur mostly at dangerous intersections, the City Administration announced this Thursday a plan that seeks to improve safety at thousands of crossing points throughout the city. The goal is to carry out work at 2,000 intersections each year, as well as add signage and natural lighting that improves visibility at about 1,000 more, and expand a pilot program of vehicle safety technology and require these mechanisms in heavy vehicles of contractors and licensees.
“Protecting New Yorkers is my most sacred responsibility as Mayor, and that goes for traffic violence as well as any other form of violence. Our streets must be safe places for all New Yorkers: pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike,” said Mayor Adams. “I am pleased to announce that we are doubling our current pace of intersection safety improvements, because that is where more than half of all traffic injuries and deaths occur.”
The local president added that, in order to further promote his safety initiatives, he ordered the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to include road violence in its periodic reports, showing road safety as a public safety issue. .
City data shows that intersection crashes account for more than 50 percent of all deaths and 70 percent of all injuries in a year. In the case of pedestrians, the problem is more evident, since they account for 55% of the deaths and 79% of the traffic injuries that occur to them.
“Reckless behavior on New York City roadways puts everyone in serious and immediate danger, and rooting it out remains at the core of the NYPD’s intelligence-driven traffic safety policies,” said NYPD Commissioner NYPD, Edward Caban. “Day after day, the men and women of the NYPD strive to keep New Yorkers safe in many ways. By including traffic-specific data in CompStat reports, our ability to accomplish that mission is greatly improved.”
Fabiola Mendieta-Cuapio, a member of the organization Families for Safe Streets, which brings together New Yorkers who have lost relatives in road tragedies, assured that improvements to intersections will save lives.
“We know that the best way to prevent traffic deaths is through design and policy changes, and we are grateful that the Adams Administration is implementing proven solutions such as natural lighting and safety technology,” said the activist. “No family should have to lose someone to road violence, and we know that better street and intersection design will protect New Yorkers across the city.”
Danny Harris, executive director of the Transportation Alternatives organization, highlighted that road violence is a public health crisis that requires the full attention of the authorities and authorities.
“Mayor Adams’ commitment today to redesign intersections, require safety improvements in city and contractor vehicles, and more effectively use crash data will save lives.” said the pedestrian and cyclist advocate. “We look forward to working with our partners at City Hall to promote safe streets in every neighborhood so that one does not have to fear death or injury on our roads.”
Councilor Carlina Rivera warned that given the painful panorama of deaths and injured people that 2023 has left, the best way to face the crisis on the roads is to accelerate and expand works and redesigns in dangerous areas.
“While New Yorkers deserve walkable and bikeable communities, continued traffic injuries and deaths demonstrate the need to dramatically accelerate street redesign and use every tool at our disposal to continue bringing safer streets. to New York City,” said the Latina politician.
Mayor Adams also mentioned that in the coming weeks he will issue an executive order that will establish a framework for heavy-duty contractor vehicles to include vehicle safety training and technology, as well as truck surround cameras and telematics systems.
Data
- 2,000 road intersections in New York will have work each year
- 1,000 was Mayor Adams’ initial goal each year.
- 1,400 intersections redesigned and improved in 2022
- 112 vehicular deaths were recorded in the first half of 2023
- 7% more than the same period of the previous year
- 18 cyclists died in the first half of 2023
- 50% of all vehicular deaths occurred at intersections and 70 percent of all injuries in one year