New York State Senator Liz Krueger, who represents the Upper East Side of Manhattan, has introduced a bill that would “make it a felony for electric-vehicle riders to crash into someone and leave the scene,” according to a report by Steetsblog. The bill joins another proposal by State Senator Brad Hoylman of the Upper West Side which would […]
Traffic Accidents
Car Crash Legislation Stalls in New York Assembly
The New York Sate Assembly failed to pass street safety legislation before ending its legislative session last week. As StreetsBlog reports, even though the State Senate passed a bill empowering New York City to determine its own speed limits, the Assembly declined to hold a vote on the bill. State lawmakers could still call a special session […]
NYC Devotes $39 Million to End Car Crashes on McGuinness Boulevard
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has committed to carving out nearly $40 million from the city’s budget to redesign Brooklyn’s McGuinness Boulevard, site of eleven pedestrian deaths and three cyclist deaths since 1995. According to StreetsBlog, a single 1.25-mile stretch of McGuinness Boulevard, from the Pulaski Bridge to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, has been […]
Study Finds Speeding Epidemic In New York City
A recent study by street safety advocacy group Transportation Alternatives has uncovered an epidemic of speeding in New York City, finding that 70% of drivers observed were driving faster than the speed limit. “Speeding drivers are a leading cause of death and injury on New York City streets,” the study notes, but because city officials “do not have control over speed […]
New Bill Would Reduce Blood Alcohol Limit in New York
The New York state legislature is currently considering a bill that would reduce the legal blood alcohol limit in the state from .08 to 0.05. If the bill becomes law, New York would be the second state in the nation to reduce the legal blood alcohol limit to .05, after Utah. According to a report by the New […]
Traffic Violence in New York Continues in April
Twenty-five people were killed in road violence incidents in New York City last month, in what StreetsBlog describes as “the deadliest April since Mayor de Blasio took office in 2014,” during “the second deadliest year for road violence” during his administration. The statistics, outlined in data released by think take Transportation Alternatives, cast a grim pall over the city’s […]
New York Safe Streets Activists Propose New Road Safety Legislation
Earlier this month a group of safe-streets lobbying groups in New York released the Crash Victims Rights and Safety Act, a collection of eight pieces of legislation “that will better support victims of traffic violence and make streets safer across New York State at a moment when traffic fatalities and speeding are both on the rise,” according […]
How One City Eliminated Car Crash Deaths in Only Three Years
The city of Hoboken, New Jersey, has recorded zero traffic violence deaths for three years, an impressive feat which a recent report by Streetsblog recently attributed to the city’s commitment to its Vision Zero campaign. Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla launched the campaign in 2019, expanding its network of bicycle lanes by 38% in that year and 2020. Today Hoboken […]
New York Street Safety Activists Earn Car Crash Injury Investigation Win
A new bill passed by the New York City Council puts the city’s Department of Transportation in charge of “all vehicle crashes involving significant injury” rather than the New York Police Department. The new legislation, Intro 224-A, creates a “crash investigation and analysis unit” within the DOT which will also be tasked to recommend “safety-improving changes […]
Pedestrian Deaths from Car Crashes Increased in 2019 and 2020
American roads have grown more and more dangerous for pedestrians in recent years, according to a recent article by NPR, and statistics show they are especially deadly for minorities. Data gathered by the Governors Highway Safety Administration shows that “6,301 pedestrians were killed by vehicles on American streets” in 2019, an increase of 46% since 2010. The same time […]
Motor Vehicle Accident Deaths Increased 24% from 2019-2020, Data Suggests
Data released by the National Safety Council found that 42,060 died in traffic violence in 2020, up 8.4% from the 38,800 motor vehicle accident deaths counted in the National Safety Council’s report for 2019. According to StreetsBlog, “because total annual mileage dropped about 13 percent during the nationwide quarantine, the one-year increase in the car crash fatality rate was the […]
NYC Bill Would Transfer Car Crash Investigation from NYPD to DOT
A new bill in the New York City Council would remove the New York Police Department’s authority to investigate car crashes, vesting that power instead with the city’s Department of Transportation. According to StreetsBlog, the bill is supported by City Council Speaker Corey Johnson but opposed by Mayor Bill de Blasio. In a statement to the publication, […]
New York City Council Candidate Proposes Bronx Street Safety Initiatives
New York City Council candidate John Sanchez recently laid out his plan for making the streets of The Bronx safer for cyclists and pedestrians. In an essay on StreetsBlog NYC, Sanchez described the key elements of his plan, which include protected bike lanes, curtailing parking, and better street design. “As a lifelong resident of The Bronx, I want my neighborhood […]
Traffic Violence Affects Almost All New York City Residents, Research Shows
A new study by the transportation safety nonprofit organization Transportation Alternatives found that traffic violence is “a near-universal experience” for people living in New York City. According to the group’s research, 30% of New Yorkers have been injured in a traffic collision, while 70% of New Yorkers know someone who has either been injured or killed in a traffic collision. Transportation […]
Safety Considerations While Traveling During Covid-19
A study of American travel habits by Longwood International found that “half of American travelers are currently planning to stay home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or New Year’s Eve,” and that about the same number feel that the Covid-19 pandemic “will greatly impact their travel decisions in the next six months.” The study also found that […]
Do NYC’s Bike Lanes Do Enough To Protect Cyclists?
A deadly crash in Queens has sparked heated discussions about bicycle safety in New York City. As Gothamist reports, a 35-year-old delivery worker driving a motorized scooter, Alfredo Cabrera Liconia, “was killed by the driver of a Bud Light truck” last Thursday. Video of the incident shows Liconia’s Scooter “trapped under the wheels of the semi-truck, […]
Why Reckless Driving Increased During the Covid-19 Pandemic
One curious feature of the Covid-19 pandemic’s effects on American roadways is that while there were fewer vehicles on the roads, there was also an increase in reckless driving, accidents, and deaths. As Axios reported in October, data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found “traffic fatality rates increased 30%” in the second quarter of 2020. Officials […]
Is It Time To Repeal Jaywalking Laws?
Is it time to repeal jaywalking laws? A new column in Bloomberg CityLab argues it is, citing their alleged role in systemic racism. The column points out that in September, a Black man in San Clemente, California, was shot and killed during an altercation with police when he tried to cross a street. “Black and Brown people, […]
Which Car Models Have the Most Accidents?
A recent study by the virtual insurance agent Insurify identified the ten car models associated with the most motor vehicle accidents. To arrive at its findings, Insurify looked at its database of “over 2.5 million car insurance applications.” When drivers apply for quotes via the website, according to its description, they enter information including their car’s […]
Do Car Insurance Companies “Subsidize” Traffic Accidents?
A new study of the car insurance industry, by virtual insurance agent Insurify, found that car insurance companies “subsidize car carnage,” according to an analysis by StreetsBlog. According to Insurify’s data, insurance companies charge lower rates for deadlier cars—like SUVS, minivans, and pickup trucks—than for smaller cars that aren’t responsible for as many deaths. Furthermore, people charged with aggressive driving […]
New York Traffic Signals Violate ADA, Court Rules
The overwhelming inaccessibility of traffic signals in New York City violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a new ruling by the Southern District of New York. Federal judge Paul A. Engelmayer wrote in his decision that “the near-total absence at the City’s signalized intersections of crossing information accessible to blind and low vision pedestrians denies […]
Clearer Roads Aren’t Always Safer, Study Finds
A recent study by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute found that as roads across the country cleared during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, they did not get any safer. According to a report by Traffic Technology Today, the likelihood of fatal crashes actually increased. Examining traffic in urban and rural parts of Texas, researchers found that […]
E-Scooter Injuries Rise In City Sidewalks
According to roadway ombudsman StreetBlog NYC, a new report on e-scooter injuries demonstrates the need for separated lanes in New York City. The report in question was published by the car insurance industry-funded Insurance Institute, and found that e-scooter riders “are more likely to injure themselves by riding on the sidewalk than get injured by a […]
Work Zone Fatalities Up During Pandemic
Even as overall traffic levels fell over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of crashes and fatalities at work zones has risen, according to a recent report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Workers patching potholes, striping roads, directing traffic or building highways are more at risk than ever,” it states, “as drivers zoom through work zones or are […]
Will Covid-19 Permanently Take Millions of Cars Off the Road?
A recent study by KPMG has concluded that the Covid-19 pandemic may permanently change driving habits in the United States, even after a vaccine is distributed and life otherwise returns to the way it was before the pandemic. According to a report on StreetsBlog, the study suggests that “traffic volumes probably aren’t going to climb much higher than the benchmark […]