Vision Zero (New York City)

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Vision Zero is a program created by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2014. Its purpose is to eliminate all traffic deaths and serious injuries on New York City streets by 2024. [1] On January 15, 2014, Mayor de Blasio announced the launch of Vision Zero in New York City, based on a similar program of the same name that was implemented in Sweden. The original Swedish theory hypothesizes that pedestrian deaths are not as much "accidents" as they are a failure of street design. [2] Traffic-related injuries and crashes in New York City increased from 2014 through 2018, though traffic-related deaths decreased. [3]

Contents

Context

In 1990 there were 701 traffic fatalities in New York City. [4] In 2013 there were 286 traffic fatalities. [5] 2014 saw the fewest pedestrian fatalities since 1910, [6] with 132 deaths. [7] However, traffic injuries and traffic crashes in New York City under de Blasio's mayoralty have been increasing. [3]

There have been both a greater number of crashes since the program began, according to New York City Police Department data. [3] Collisions on New York City streets increased over 11% between 2014 and 2018. [3] In 2014, there were 205,486 such collisions; that number rose to 228,227 in 2018. [3] There has also been a steadily rising injury toll, according to New York City Police Department data. [3] Between 2014 and 2018, collisions resulting in injuries increased by 18% (from 37,556 in 2014, to 44,508 in 2018). [3]

In 2016, there were 10,775 pedestrian injuries, 148 pedestrian deaths, 4,592 bicyclist injuries, and 18 bicyclist deaths citywide due to motor vehicle drivers. [8] However, in July 2019, de Blasio came under criticism after fifteen cyclists died since the beginning of the year, more than the number of cyclists killed in all of 2018. [9]

Program

Implementation

The plan includes criminal charges against traffic violators, speed limit reduction from 30 to 25 miles per hour (48 to 40 km/h), slow zones, increased enforcement, increase use of speed cameras, quicker repairing broken traffic signals, and strict enforcement on taxi drivers. [5] It also includes adding leading pedestrian interval signals, which allow pedestrians to start crossing before parallel vehicular traffic has a green light, to 800 signalized intersections per year. In addition, over 7,500 of the city's 13,000 signalized intersections received pedestrian countdown timers that count down the seconds remaining for pedestrians to cross. [10] New Vision Zero laws made it a crime, punishable by imprisonment, if a driver does not yield to a pedestrian and causes death or injury. [2] Any government official on duty is exempt from this law and is not charged with a crime. [7]

Results

There was a reduction in traffic fatalities in the year 2014, but the reaction was mixed. [11] Transit union officials say that bus drivers are persecuted through this law, and that they should be treated like government officials and not be charged criminally. Opponents say that bus drivers killed at least 9 of the 132 pedestrians in 2014 and that they should therefore be investigated like anyone else. [7]

Traffic injuries and traffic crashes in New York City under Mayor de Blasio have been increasing, though deaths have decreased. [3] In 2019 there has been criticism of de Blasio's initiative stemming from an increase in bicyclist fatalities from collisions with motor vehicles to fifteen as of July 2019, as compared to ten in all of 2018. [12] A 2024 study in the American Journal of Public Health found that, as a result of Vision Zero, Medicaid expenses related to traffic injuries in New York City had decreased from $762 million in 2014 to $671 million in 2018. [13]

Total fatalitiesPedestrian fatalities
  • Source: Year Three Report [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedestrian</span> Person traveling on foot

A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. Pedestrians may also be wheelchair users or other disabled people who use mobility aids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traffic calming</span> Road design measures that raise the safety of pedestrians and motorists

Traffic calming uses physical design and other measures to improve safety for motorists, car drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. It has become a tool to combat speeding and other unsafe behaviours of drivers in the neighbourhoods. It aims to encourage safer, more responsible driving and potentially reduce traffic flow. Urban planners and traffic engineers have many strategies for traffic calming, including narrowed roads and speed humps. Such measures are common in Australia and Europe, but less so in North America. Traffic calming is a calque of the German word Verkehrsberuhigung – the term's first published use in English was in 1985 by Carmen Hass-Klau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Road traffic safety</span> Methods and measures for reducing the risk of death and injury on roads

Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, and passengers of on-road public transport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safety in numbers</span> Hypothesis

Safety in numbers is the hypothesis that, by being part of a large physical group or mass, an individual is less likely to be the victim of a mishap, accident, attack, or other bad event. Some related theories also argue that mass behaviour can reduce accident risks, such as in traffic safety – in this case, the safety effect creates an actual reduction of danger, rather than just a redistribution over a larger group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dooring</span> Type of cycling accident

Dooring is the act of opening a motor vehicle door into the path of another road user. Dooring can happen when a driver has parked or stopped to exit their vehicle, or when passengers egress from cars, taxis and rideshares into the path of a cyclist in an adjacent travel lane. The width of the door zone in which this can happen varies, depending upon the model of car one is passing. The zone can be almost zero for a vehicle with sliding or gull-wing doors or much larger for a truck. In many cities across the globe, doorings are among the most common and injurious bike-vehicle incidents. Any passing vehicle may also strike and damage a negligently opened or left open door, or injure or kill the exiting motorist or passenger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advanced stop line</span> Road junction markings giving some vehicles a head start

An advanced stop line (ASL), also called advanced stop box or bike box, is a type of road marking at signalised road junctions allowing certain types of vehicle a head start when the traffic signal changes from red to green. Advanced stop lines are implemented widely in Denmark, the United Kingdom, and other European countries but the idea was first conceptualized by transportation planner Michael Lynch for the city of Portland, Oregon, in response to numerous bike crashes at intersections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicycle safety</span> Safety practices to reduce risk associated with cycling

Bicycle safety is the use of road traffic safety practices to reduce risk associated with cycling. Risk can be defined as the number of incidents occurring for a given amount of cycling. Some of this subject matter is hotly debated: for example, which types of cycling environment or cycling infrastructure is safest for cyclists. The merits of obeying the traffic laws and using bicycle lighting at night are less controversial. Wearing a bicycle helmet may reduce the chance of head injury in the event of a crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation Alternatives</span>

Transportation Alternatives is a non-profit organization in New York City which works to change New York City's transportation priorities to encourage and increase non-polluting, quiet, city-friendly travel and decrease automobile use. TransAlt seeks a transportation system based on a "Green Transportation Hierarchy" giving preference to modes of travel based on their relative benefits and costs to society. To achieve these goals, T.A. works in five areas: Cycling, Walking and Traffic Calming, Car-Free Parks, Safe Streets and Sustainable Transportation. Promotional activities include large group bicycle rides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Road junction</span> Location where two or more roads meet

A junction is where two or more roads meet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turn on red</span> Traffic principle

Turn on red is a principle of law permitting vehicles at a traffic light showing a red signal to turn into the direction of traffic nearer to them when the way is clear, without having to wait for a green signal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation safety in the United States</span> Overview of transportation safety

Transportation safety in the United States encompasses safety of transportation in the United States, including automobile crashes, airplane crashes, rail crashes, and other mass transit incidents, although the most fatalities are generated by road incidents annually killing 32,479 people in 2011 to over 42,000 people in 2022. The number of deaths per passenger-mile on commercial airlines in the United States between 2000 and 2010 was about 0.2 deaths per 10 billion passenger-miles. For driving, the rate was 150 per 10 billion vehicle-miles: 750 times higher per mile than for flying in a commercial airplane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cycling in New York City</span>

Cycling in New York City is associated with mixed cycling conditions that include dense urban proximities, relatively flat terrain, congested roadways with stop-and-go traffic, and streets with heavy pedestrian activity. The city's large cycling population includes utility cyclists, such as delivery and messenger services; cycling clubs for recreational cyclists; and increasingly commuters. Cycling is increasingly popular in New York City; in 2018 there were approximately 510,000 daily bike trips, compared with 170,000 daily bike trips in 2005.

Vision Zero is a multi-national road traffic safety project that aims to achieve a roadway system with no fatalities or serious injuries involving road traffic. It started in Sweden and was approved by their parliament in October 1997. A core principle of the vision is that "Life and health can never be exchanged for other benefits within the society" rather than the more conventional comparison between costs and benefits, where a monetary value is placed on life and health, and then that value is used to decide how much money to spend on a road network towards the benefit of decreasing risk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Road collision types</span> Overview of the various types of road traffic collision

Road traffic collisions generally fall into one of five common types:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traffic collision</span> Incident when a vehicle collides with another object

A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Traffic collisions often result in injury, disability, death, and property damage as well as financial costs to both society and the individuals involved. Road transport is statistically the most dangerous situation people deal with on a daily basis, but casualty figures from such incidents attract less media attention than other, less frequent types of tragedy. The commonly used term car accident is increasingly falling out of favor with many government departments and organizations, with the Associated Press style guide recommending caution before using the term. Some collisions are intentional vehicle-ramming attacks, staged crashes, vehicular homicide or vehicular suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epidemiology of motor vehicle collisions</span>

Worldwide, it was estimated that 1.25 million people were killed and many millions more were injured in motor vehicle collisions in 2013. This makes motor vehicle collisions the leading cause of death among young adults of 15–29 years of age and the ninth most frequent cause of death for all ages worldwide. In the United States, 40,100 people died and 2.8 million were injured in crashes in 2017, and around 2,000 children under 16 years old die every year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idaho stop</span> Idaho law allowing bicyclists to yield at stop signs; precedent for similar laws in other areas

The Idaho stop is the common name for laws that allow bicyclists to treat a stop sign as a yield sign, and a red light as a stop sign. It first became law in Idaho in 1982, but was not adopted elsewhere until Delaware adopted a limited stop-as-yield law, the "Delaware Yield", in 2017. Arkansas was the second US state to legalize both stop-as-yield and red-light-as-stop in April 2019. Studies in Delaware and Idaho have shown significant decreases in crashes at stop-controlled intersections. In France and Belgium, some intersections use red-light-as-yield signs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McGuinness Boulevard</span> Boulevard in Brooklyn, New York

McGuinness Boulevard is a boulevard in Greenpoint, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It runs between Interstate 278 in the south and the Pulaski Bridge in the north, which connects Greenpoint to Long Island City, Queens and Jackson Avenue. South of Driggs Avenue, it is called McGuinness Boulevard South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safety of cycling infrastructure</span> Overview of bicycle safety concerns

There is debate over the safety implications of cycling infrastructure. Recent studies generally affirm that segregated cycle tracks have a better safety record between intersections than cycling on major roads in traffic. Furthermore, cycling infrastructure tends to lead to more people cycling. A higher modal share of people cycling is correlated with lower incidences of cyclist fatalities, leading to a "safety in numbers" effect though some contributors caution against this hypothesis. On the contrary, older studies tended to come to negative conclusions about mid-block cycle track safety.

List of cyclist or cycling deaths in U.S. by year

References

  1. Miller, Stephen (January 15, 2014). "De Blasio Rolls Out a Multi-Agency Approach to Reducing Traffic Violence". StreetsBlog NYC.
  2. 1 2 Lisa, Belkin (January 14, 2015). "'Vision Zero,' one year on: NYC's quest to reduce preventable traffic deaths". Yahoo News. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Furfaro, Danielle; Moore, Tina (January 2, 2019). "NYC traffic injuries are up despite drop in fatalities". New York Post.
  4. "Vision Zero Homepage". NYC.gov. City of New York. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Lemire, Jonathan (May 29, 2014). "New York City Council Passes Vision Zero Legislation". 7 News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  6. Donohue, Pete (December 30, 2014). "EXCLUSIVE: Pedestrian traffic deaths hit record low in New York City". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (February 19, 2015). "Mayor de Blasio's Traffic Law Vilifies Bus Drivers, Union Says". The New York Times. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  8. "Bicycle Crash Data Report 2016" (PDF). nyc.gov . New York City Department of Transportation. 2016. p. 3. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  9. Reich, Garret (July 10, 2019). "Vox-Pop: Cyclists Speak Out Amid Uptick in Traffic Fatalities". The Indypendent. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  10. Hu, Winnie (November 24, 2017). "Giving Pedestrians a Head Start Crossing Streets". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  11. Hicks, Nolan; Nolan, Caitlin; Paddock, Paddock (May 26, 2015). "EXCLUSIVE: Daily News probe finds mixed results for Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero plan". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  12. Gaffney, Emma (July 11, 2019). "With Die-in, NYC Cyclists Say It's Time To Put The Brakes On Car Culture". The Indypendent. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  13. Dragan, Kacie L.; Glied, Sherry A. (June 2024). "Major Traffic Safety Reform and Road Traffic Injuries Among Low-Income New York Residents, 2009–2021". American Journal of Public Health. 114 (6): 633–641. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2024.307617. ISSN   0090-0036.
  14. "YEAR THREE REPORT" (PDF). nyc.gov . New York City Department of Transportation. February 2017. p. 12. Retrieved November 4, 2017.