In New York City in 2012 there were 152 pedestrian and cyclist fatalities and 14,327 injuries. Of those 14,479 crashes, DMV data show NYPD cited 101 motorists for careless driving. That’s a citation rate of 0.7%.
The careless driving law was initiated in 2009 and was intended as a minimum penalty to hold drivers who injure and kill accountable, in lieu of a more serious criminal charge. However after summonses were dismissed in court because officers weren’t witnessing violations the NYPD prohibited cops from issuing careless driving citations unless an officer witnesses a violation, or the crash is investigated by the Collision Investigation Squad (previously known as the Accident Investigation Squad). CIS only investigates around 300 crashes a year. As a consequence NYPD doesn’t enforce the law against careless driving and most reckless drivers are never being held accountable for their acts.
Read more in StreetBlog.org