New York City's roadways are crowded, we can all agree, but who knew they were paved with blood? In the past decade more New Yorkers have died in traffic than from guns, a new report, Vision Zero [PDF], from Transportation Alternatives reveals. Which helps explain how traffic incidents cost the city over $4 billion in 2009.
Roughly 3,774 New Yorkers suffer "life-altering injuries" in traffic accidents each year while 317 New Yorkers are killed in traffic each year, on average, according to the report. Add up all of the traffic fatalities from 2001-2009 and you find that 3,647 people were killed in New York Streets, which is more than the 3,558 victims of gun homicides on the books for the same period. On the plus side, the annual number of traffic fatalities has declined by 30 percent in that period from 381 in 2001 to 268 in 2009.
"New York's streets are downright deadly," said Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "Any number higher than zero is simply unacceptable. It's time to challenge the culture of acceptance that acts like traffic is as uncontrollable as weather and get serious about saving lives."
To that end, the report focuses on speeding cars (though they acknowledge bikes do it too) and the "'culture of acceptance' of traffic fatalities and injuries among many city residents." TransAlt argues the city—whose recent efforts like curb extensions and speed bumps it applauds—needs a "unifying vision" in order to one day have a year with no traffic fatalities.
