Traffic deaths soar under Vision Zero

The streets are as mean as ever — likely because the enforcement has never been less — despite Mayor de Blasio claiming traffic safety as one of his top priorities over two terms.

Deaths on city streets soared last year as 275 people — including 123 pedestrians — were killed in crashes, all while the

NYPD’s enforcement of traffic laws meant to protect lives plummeted, City Hall revealed in a report published late Friday.

It’s a 30-percent jump from the 211 traffic-related fatalities reported during the same 12-month period in 2020 and the most deaths on city streets since 2014 when 285 people died.

The dramatic uptick in deaths and decline in enforcement come seven years into de Blasio’s signature “Vision Zero” initiative, which slashed speed limits around the city and proclaimed New York’s goal of no traffic-related deaths on city streets.

But that rhetoric has not been matched by action, pedestrian and cycling advocates have repeatedly charged.

“Mayor de Blasio promised to make streets less deadly and it’s a real failure of leadership that during his final year in office we’re significantly backsliding on progress,” said Cory Epstein, the spokesman for Transportation

Alternatives, which backs expanding the city’s bike lane network and tightening regulations on drivers.

When contacted about the levels of traffic enforcement late Friday, following the report’s release, the NYPD did not respond to requests for comment.