In New York, most drivers who carelessly killed or injured a pedestrian or bicyclist are not held responsible for their acts

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.