Despite Vision Zero efforts, the last four months saw an increase in pedestrians dying and suffering personal injury in car accidents in NYC

There are usually less personal injuries and deaths related to motor vehicle accidents in New York City during the month of January than during most other months. This January there were 17,798 traffic accidents compared to 15,977 in January 2015, 16,597 in January 2014 and 15,599. Even though motor vehicle accidents decreased from January 2014 to 2015 the number of monthly accidents has been on an increasing trend. It is the first time that the number of traffic accidents is above 17,000 for the month of January.

Despite an increasing number of traffic accidents the number of injuries and deaths related to theses accidents have decreased. This is hopefully related to the introduction of various initiatives to make the streets safer launched under the NYC Vision Zero project. As motorists are driving slower and in a safer way, accidents still happen but less road users are injured or die.

3,624 people were injured in a traffic crash in New York this past January.  This is more than in January 2015 (2,449) but less than in January 2014 (3,899) and in January 2013 (3,993).  Globally over the last 3 years the monthly number of people injured in NYC auto accidents has been decreasing. However during the last few months, the number of injuries have been picking up again. For example, In December 2015 there were 4,519 people injured in auto accidents in NYC compared to 4,117 in December 2014 and 4,277 in December 2013. It was the first time that the number of injuries related to traffic accidents in NYC was above the trend line in December.

17 people died in a NYC motor vehicle accident in January 2016 compared to 13 in January 2015, 21 in January 2014 and 28 in January 2013. It is the second consecutive year that the number of fatal auto crashes in New York in the month of January is below 20. Over the last 3 years the monthly number of fatal traffic accidents in NYC have been slowly decreasing.

 

The total number of pedestrians injured in a motor vehicle accident in New York City during the month of January was at its lowest in January 2016 with 899 personal injuries compared to 902 in January 2015, 1,075 in January 2014 and 1,107 in January 2013. This number confirms the decreasing trends in pedestrian injuries in the city over the last 3 years.

 

11 pedestrians died in a New York auto accident last January compared to 6 in January 2015.  Even though the trend shows a decrease in fatal pedestrian accidents in NYC over the last 3 years, the number of pedestrian deaths over the last 4 months has been increasing again over the last 4 months. Since the beginning of October 2015  64 pedestrians were fatally struck by vehicles in NYC compared to 43 for the same period a year earlier and 69 two years before.

 

The monthly number of bicycle accidents in New York City was back above 200 in January 2015. There were 224 bicycle accidents in the city last January compared to 159 in January 2015, 232 in January 2013 and 248 in January 2013. The rise in bicycle accidents in New York can be related to the increased number of people using their bikes in the city. Additionally because January 2016 was much warmer than  months of January in previous years more people than usual may have been inclined to ride their bike in January.

163 people suffered personal injury in a bicycle accident in New York City last January compared to 115 in January 2015, 116 in January 2014 and 190 in January 2013. As indicated before this higher number than usual may be related to the unusually warm weather recorded in New York during the month of January this year.

 

The number of fatal bicycle accidents was also higher than usual for a month of January. Two bicyclist were killed in an accident last January compared to one in January 15, one in January 14 and 0 in January 13.

 

There were 40 motorcycle accidents in NYC last January. compared to 28 in January 2015, 32 in January 2014 and 55 the same month of 2013. Motorcycle accidents are also highly correlated to the weather conditions. There were more motorcycle accidents than usual in New York City during this exceptionally warm month of January.

Truck accidents continue to rise at a fast pace in New York City. In Jnaury 2013 there were 523 truck accidents. This number went up to 588 in January 2014, 615 in January 2015 and 667 last January.

Bus accidents are also on the rise in the city. Last January they were 649 bus accidents in NYC compared to 522 in January 2015, 623 in January 2014 and 441 in the same month of 2013.

Distracted driving continues to be by far the number one cause of motor vehicle accidents in New York City. 3,401 accidents were related to distracted driving last January in NYC.