These measures include street lighting, reflective strips on signs, and larger and more visible signage. According to Evari, Federal Highway Administration data show that more street lighting can significantly mitigate nighttime collisions at rural and urban intersections and on highways, helping prevent injuries among both pedestrians and motorists. As a report by Streetsblog notes, 76% of pedestrian […]
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Reports: NYC Suffers Eight Car Crash Deaths in Four Days
The epidemic of traffic violence in New York City continued last week, with at least eight deaths from traffic accidents in four days, according to a report by Spectrum News NY. Advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, which tracks traffic violence in the city, said data shows a “13% increase year over year in traffic fatalities,” with city […]
NHTSA Launches Car Heatstroke Prevention Campaign
A new campaign by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, a division of the US Department of Transportation, encourages parents and other caregivers to make sure they don’t leave young children in their cars during the hot spring and summer months. As a press release by the NHTSA explains, the “Look Before You Lock” initiative coincided with […]
NHTSA Taking Steps to Make Cars Safer for Pedestrians
A recent column in America Walks argues that the US Department of Transportation should take regulatory steps to ensure that large vehicles associated with higher pedestrian deaths implement technology designed to keep pedestrians safe. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a division of the NHTSA, has initiated a rule-making process that would rate passenger vehicles for pedestrian […]
Does Highway Safety Signage Actually Reduce Car Crashes?
A new study suggests that some measures intended to reduce traffic accidents may have the counterintuitive effect of increasing them. According to a recent report by the Los Angeles Times, researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of Toronto looked at the impact of highway safety signage in Texas—specifically, signs displayed every January notifying drivers of […]
Data: 2022 Another Deadly Year on NYC Streets
The first three months of 2022 were the deadliest on New York City’s street since former mayor Bill de Blasio launched the Vision Zero plan to eliminate traffic violence in 2014, according to data analyzed by Transportation Alternatives. During those months, 59 people lost their lives in motor vehicle accidents, a figure that represents a 44% […]
E-Bike Accident Statistics: E-Bikes May Cause More Injuries than Motorcycles, Cars
Using an electric bicycle or e-bike is more likely to result in injury than using a motorcycle or car, according to a recent UCLA study. However, the study found, those injuries were “less serious than those victims of motorcycle and car crashes, and significantly less deadly.” As a report by Electrek explains, the study involved a review […]
NHTSA Raises Awareness of Distracted Driving Injuries, Deaths
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a division of the Department of Transportation, launched a campaign raising attention to the dangers of distracted driving. As a recent release by the agency notes, April is “National Distracted Driving Awareness Month,” and the NHTSA marked the occasion with a weeklong enforcement effort intended to stop drivers who were texting […]
Reports: NYPD Van Driver Strikes, Kills Pedestrian in Brooklyn
An NYPD driver struck and killed a pedestrian in Brooklyn last week, according to a recent report by the New York Post, which states that the 53-year-old pedestrian “was believed to be homeless and panhandling” in the painted central median of Eastern Parkway. The driver was at the wheel of a police van that was reportedly […]
New York Bill Would Put New Requirement on Student Drivers
A new bill recently introduced in the New York state legislature would place higher standards on student drivers. Senate Bill 8677, introduced by Senator Andrew Gounardes, would require student drivers to take at least six hours of training under a “certified instructor” before they could be issued a license. According to a report by Streetsblog, […]
NYC Mayor Renews Call For Home Rule over Traffic Enforcement
In a news conference last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams called for New York’s state government to pass a suite of legislation designed to mitigate rising traffic violence in the city. Joined by city officials, lawmakers from all levels of government, and transit safety activists, he renewed demands for state legislators to give […]
NHTSA Launches Automated Safety Tech Media Campaign
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a federal agency that writes and enforces motor vehicle safety standards, has announced a new media campaign to educate drivers about “the safety benefits of advanced driver-assistance technologies in newer vehicles.” According to a press release issued by the agency, the yearlong campaign will involve $1.25 million in spending […]
Car Crashes Kill Two Senior Citizens in Queens
The epidemic of traffic violence continued wreaking havoc in New York City last week, as car crashes killed two senior citizens in Queens. According to Streetsblog, one victim was a 75-year-old woman backed over by an 85-year-old man driving a Mercedes Benz; the other was a 88-year-old man hit and killed by the 52-year-old driver of […]
Data: Car Crash Injuries Still Rising in NYC
New York Police Department statistics analyzed by Streetsblog show dramatically increasing traffic violence in New York City in 2022, with “crashes that cause injuries, total injuries and injuries to pedestrians” all rising by double digits. “The violence on New York City streets,” Streetsblog cautions, “is even worse than you think.” According to data concerning traffic […]
NHTSA Issues Final Rule for Autonomous Vehicles
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has issued a final rule designed to “ensure safety of occupants in automated vehicles.” According to a press release by the agency, the new rule serves as an update to existing standards, accounting for vehicles without the same manual controls. As a report by TechCrunch explains, the rule updates “terminology in the Federal […]
Study: Dangerous Driving Increased During Pandemic
A recent survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, drivers drove more recklessly and spent more time driving. As an analysis by Streetsblog points out, that latter figure “partly explains” why the rate of fatalities per mile traveled increased during the pandemic, in addition to the number of fatalities […]
Suspect Arrested in Fatal Brooklyn Hit-and-Run
The driver who allegedly struck and killed a Brooklyn schoolteacher while speeding in May 2021 had two driving-related incidents in his past. As Streetsblog reported last week, the New York Police Department has said it arrested and charged the suspect, Tariq Witherspoon, a 30-year-old EMT “who hit and seriously injured a cyclist in 2017,” two years after he allegedly “allowed an […]
After Deadly Accident, City Plans to Make Queens Intersection Safer
The New York City Department of Transportation has pledged to make improvements to a Queens intersection that has seen numerous violent and even deadly car crashes in recent weeks. As the Queens Daily Eagle reported, the intersection of Cooper Avenue and Cypress Avenue in Glendale, Queens was the site of a February incident in which a […]
NYC to Strengthen 20 Miles of Bike Lanes by 2024
The New York City Department of Transportation has begun the process of strengthening 20 miles of protected bike lanes within the city, or roughly half of the city’s protected bike lanes. As a recent report by Streetsblog notes, DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez had previously pledged to strengthen 20 miles within 100 days of taking office. Now, the […]
New Yorker Killed by Driver with a Record of Speeding
The SUV driver who stuck and killed 99-year-old Holocaust survivor Jack Mikulincer in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn earlier this month was the recipient of “10 school-zone speeding tickets and four red-light tickets since 2016,” including six such speeding tickets in 2021, according to a report by Streetsblog. The incident raises questions of what state and city authorities are […]
US Auto Safety Regulators Investigate Hyundai and Kia Engine Fires
In December, The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has launched an investigation into potentially widespread defects in cars manufactured by Kia and Hyundai. According to a report by the Associated Press, the inquiry will look at “more than 3 million vehicles from the 2011 through 2016 model years,” stemming from 161 reports it received about engine fires. A […]
Pedestrians Suffer as Reckless Driving Rises
The Covid-19 pandemic has “intensified” trends behind an increase in reckless driving-related pedestrian accidents and deaths in the United States, according to a recent report by the New York Times. Despite expectations early in the pandemic that a decrease in drivers on the road would lead to a decrease in pedestrian deaths, in reality the relative emptiness […]
2021 Was NYC’s Deadliest Year for Traffic Deaths
A total of 273 people lost their lives in traffic crashes in New York City last year, according to a study by street safety advocacy group Transportation Alternatives. As the Brooklyn Eaglereported last week, this made the 2021 deadliest year for traffic violence-related deaths, representing an increase of 33% since 2018. Transportation Alternatives’ study found that […]
Data Suggests NYC Open Streets Reduce Car Crashes, Injuries
Data shows that the implementation of car-free streets leads to a reduction in car crashes and injuries, according to a new analysis by Streetsblog. The analysis specifically examined New York City’s “Open Streets” program on 34th Avenue between 69th Street and Junction Boulevard in Queens, which is kept pedestrian-only for 12 hours every day. Using data […]
NYC Agencies Launch Traffic Safety Initiative During Holidays
Four New York City agencies announced they would step up traffic enforcement during the holiday season. In a press release issued last week, the New York City Police Department, New York City Department of Transportation, New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced efforts “to crack down […]