Traffic deaths in N.Y.C. hit near-record lows
Vision Zero plan has helped reduce incidents
NEW YORK— The number of traffic deaths in New York City dropped in 2018 to the lowest level in more than a century, a sign of progress for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to eliminate fatalities on the city’s streets.
The news, however, was not all promising: Although overall deaths declined, the number of pedestrians killed in traffic increased last year, city officials said Tuesday. De Blasio has implemented a number of safety improvements in his aim to eliminate all traffic deaths by 2024, a program he named Vision Zero after a Swedish plan.
The total number of people killed in traffic crashes in New York City fell to 200 last year, down from 222 deaths in 2017 and the lowest level since the city began tracking such deaths in 1910, according to preliminary data from the city.
The reduction is part of a fiveyear decline from 299 deaths in 2013, the year before Vision Zero began and the speed limit on most streets was lowered to 25 m.p.h. (40 km/h).
“Vision Zero is clearly working,” de Blasio said, calling the drop since 2013 stunning.
But pedestrian deaths, which account for the largest share of traffic fatalities, increased last year to 114, from 107 in 2017 — a troubling sign that the city’s streets remain dangerous for many New Yorkers.
De Blasio called the rise in pedestrian deaths disappointing. He said the city would do more to redesign streets to make them safer and to enforce laws requiring vehicles to yield to pedestrians.
New York is spending $1.6 billion (U.S.) over five years for its Vision Zero plan, significantly more — even on a per-capita basis — than Toronto’s investment in its version.
New York spends about $185 per resident each year, Toronto about $26.
According to statistics compiled by the Star using police and media reports, 47 pedestrians and cyclists were been killed on Toronto streets in 2018. That number is higher than any single year in a police database that goes back to 2007.
It’s unclear if the total is an all-time record, as the Star does not have independent data on pedestrian and cyclist deaths before that year.
Thirteen motorists and10 motorcyclists were also killed on Toronto streets in 2018, according to Star data.
Mayor John Tory last week said he remains committed to Vision Zero. He had received criticism for earlier saying the plan is “not working” in a yearend interview with the CBC.