19 killed and 3,117 injured in NYC auto accidents last January

657 pedestrians, 161 cyclists, 870 passengers and 1,429 motorists were injured in motor vehicle accidents in New York City last January. 19 other road users died in crashes the same month, including 11 pedestrians, 5 passengers and 3 motorists. This is the highest number of fatalities for a month of January since January 2019 and the highest it ever got during a month and more than half of them were motorists. Last year during the same month, 13 people were killed in traffic accidents in the city.

The total number of  people injured in motor vehicle accidents in January 2022 in the city was a little higher than in January 2021 when it reached 3,028 however this number remained lower than numbers recorded during the months of January before the pandemic.  The graph below illustrates well the seasonality of car accident injuries with the month of January being usually a month during which there are less injuries reported than during the summer months. The graph also shows a big drop during the lockdown.

Motorists and passengers are the two categories of road users that usually sustained the most injuries of all auto accidents reported in the city.

11 pedestrians died in car accidents in New York City in January 2022 compared to 6 in December 2021 and 12 in January 2021. After Vision Zero started in 2014,  the number of pedestrian fatalities during the month of January never went higher than 13 in January 2017, while it reached 20 in January 2013 before Vision Zero started. 11 pedestrian deaths still remain high: on average, every 3 day in January, a pedestrian walking in the street of New York City died.

Since Vision Zero started, pedestrian injuries have been on a declining trend. They went from respectively 1,107 in January 2013 to 1,075, 902, 899, 1,083, 849, 819, 509 and 657 and January 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.  Except for January 2017 and January 2019, pedestrian injuries remain below 1,000 in January.

January is usually a month during which the amount of bicycle accidents and the resulting injuries and deaths are around their lowest of the year. The bad weather and freezing temperatures prevent many New Yorkers and most visitors to ride a bike like they would on a warmer day in the spring, summer or fall.

A total of 214 bicycle accidents were reported and 161 bicyclists were injured in these accidents. No bicycle accident fatalities were reported last January for the second consecutive year during the month of January. Since January 2103, the highest number of fatalities recorded during a month of January was 3 in January 2019 and 2 in January 2016. During all the other months of January the number of pedestrian fatalities remain between o and 1.

Since 2013, bicycle accident injuries and deaths are on a rising trend as more cyclists on the roads also result in more accidents.

Motorcycle accidents are the most seasonal statistics of all motor vehicle accidents.  Icy roads, reduced visibility, snow, rain  and extremely cold temperature are difficult and dangerous for motorcycle riders and most of them do not ride during the winter. 64 motorcycle accidents were reported to the NYPD last January, exactly the same number as in January a year earlier and almost half than in December 2021 when 130 motorcycle accidents occurred in the city.

Bus accidents have been on the rise since the end of the Covid19  lockdown, mostly because the activity in the city gradually increased and more buses are back on the road, from school buses to visitor buses and of course the MTA buses  who transport New Yorkers and visitors daily around the city.  300 bus accidents were reported in January 22 compared to 305 in December 2021 and 216 in January 2021. Accidents reported to the NYPD are mostly accidents that resulted in injuries or significant damages as since April 2020, the NYPD policy is not to report on  fender benders  and other accidents with no injuries and little damage.

There were less truck accidents reported this January (558)  than a month earlier (586) and also than during the same month a year earlier (559).  A drop in truck accidents also occurred in January a year before so the drop may be a seasonal factor. While trucks have to follow special routes and sometimes specific schedules, they are still omnipresent in the city. They do represent a danger for road users especially cyclists or scooter users as well as pedestrians and to a lesser extend car occupants. Car occupants are usually protected by the car in case of a collision while those road users that don’t have protection can get sucked in under the wheels pretty easily and suffer catastrophic injury or death.