Traffic In 2024 Kills Most New Yorkers Since ‘Vision Zero’ Began

NEW YORK CITY, NY – The city’s worst in the world traffic is having deadly consequences for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.

In the first six months of 2024, 127 people have been killed in traffic violence in the city – the most since the city’s Vision Zero program began a decade ago, according to recently released data from Transportation Alternatives.

Although it’s unclear why deaths are rising, traffic enforcement has fallen precipitously.

As of May 2024 – the most recent month for which numbers are available – the NYPD had issued a total of just over 290,000 moving violations citywide this year.

That’s down from just over 315,000 violations by May of 2023 and nearly 460,000 violations by May of 2019, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moving violations include infractions like speeding, failure to yield to pedestrians, cell phone use, seat belt use, and more.

Speeding in particular is a key cause of traffic fatalities, and according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, about a third of fatal crashes are speeding related.

"Decreasing traffic fatalities are at the core of the NYPD’s traffic safety initiatives," an NYPD spokesperson told Patch. "Precision enforcement is taken against drivers that fail to yield to pedestrians and cyclists at intersections. We have continued to conduct Vision Zero high visibility corridor enforcement and education operations, which strategically deploy personnel to conduct traffic enforcement and education in precincts where it is needed most and at locations where the data has shown a high number of vulnerable road users injured in traffic collisions."

"The NYPD has been, and continues to be, laser focused on combating dangerous driving behaviors, most notably drivers that speed and drivers that fail to yield to pedestrians and cyclists. The NYPD has doubled down on educating our motorists and conducting enforcement when the right of way is violated. We recognize that the NYPD has a finite amount of resources and continually employs precision policing to traffic enforcement."

What About The Cameras?

Last year, drivers who ran red lights caused incidents that resulted in the highest annual number of deaths due to red light running ever recorded in the city.

As of this year, red light cameras have been installed at only 150 intersections out of approximately 13,700 – or less than 1% of intersections citywide.

If a driver happens to run a red light at one of these 150 intersections, the person to whom the car is registered will receive a $50 fine – but only if their license plate is visible.

Is Enforcement The Answer?

Whether or not there’s a relationship between enforcement of traffic regulations and deaths due to traffic violence is contested – and hasn’t been clearly established.

A comprehensive federal review found “no relationship” between safety outcomes and enforcement campaigns related to distracted driving, impaired driving, aggressive driving, and speeding.

However, that same review indicated enforcement does reduce “prohibited behaviors,” and cautioned that the reason the authors were unable to establish a connection between safety outcomes and enforcement campaigns is likely due to the “small number of studies [which] provided sufficient information.”

And What About That Traffic?

What is clear is that traffic in New York City is historically awful: the worst in the world for the second year in a row, perhaps in part because there are simply too many vehicles in the city.

For example, the MTA, which tracks traffic volume on bridges and tunnels, recorded the highest annual traffic volume in 87 years in 2023.

Rest assured, the city has a legally-mandated five-year transportation program – known as the “Streets Plan” – to improve the safety, accessibility, and quality of our streets.

Unfortunately, while some plan benchmarks have been met – like adding pedestrian space and accessible signals – others – including additional bus and bike lanes – have not.