Another NYC pedestrian hit by an out of control driver died. A week ago, 38 year old Jennifer Tolliver was walking on a NYC sidewalk with her 6 year old son Ashton when they were struck in the back by an out of control driver who jumped the curb (see previous blog). Tolliver and her son were rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The driver who hit them was also transported to the hospital. He was seriously injured but was in stable condition. Yesterday the police announced that Jennifer Tolliver died from her injuries leaving behind her son for whom the police did not provide an update. The police also confirmed that they did not charge the driver. At the time of the accident the police mentioned that the driver may have suffered a medical episode however they did not provide any update about it and what type of medical episode he may have suffered. Read more in the NY Post
In New York City one pedestrian dies approximately every 3 days in a car accident
According to the most recent NYPD statistics, 10 pedestrians died in car accidents in New York City in February and 11 in January for a total of 21 for the first two months of the year. This is the highest number of pedestrian fatalities for the first two months of the year since 2020 when 23 pedestrians died during the first two months of the year.
Improving pedestrian safety and reducing pedestrian fatalities is the main goal of the Vision Zero program which was started by Mayor de Blasio in 2014. The year before in 2013, pedestrian fatalities were out of control with 33 pedestrians dying in car accidents during the first two months of the year. This number went down to 20 in 2014, 17 in 2015, 22 in 2016, 20 in 2017, 16 in 2018, 17 in 2019, 23 in 2020 (just before the lockdown) and 13 in 2021 (when the city was still very quiet). While the Vision Zero program lead to a significant reduction of pedestrian fatalities in the first year, the trend of pedestrian fatalities remains negative mostly because of a reduction of pedestrian activities during the lockdown.
