Pedestrian Accidents

Pedestrian Accident News

RECENT STUDY OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN 2009 SHOWS MANHATTAN TO BE MOST DANGEROUS OF THE 5 NYC BOROUGHS FOR PEDESTRIANS

According to the NYCDOT’s recently released The New York City Pedestrian Safety Study & Action Plan, Manhattan is, by far, the leader in the incidence of traffic accidents that cause injury or death to pedestrians vs. any of the city’s other 4 boroughs.

The report also contains the following statistics on motor vehicle accident involving pedestrians city-wide:

Manhattan has four times as many pedestrians killed or severely injured per mile of street compared to the other four boroughs in New York City.

• Traffic fatalities hit a 10 year low in 2009: down by 35% from 2001.
• The traffic fatality rate in New York City is approx. 1/4 of the national rate; and less than 1/2 the rate of the next 10 largest cities in the USA.
• Traffic accident cost the economy in New York City approx. $4.29 billion annually.
• Pedestrians are ten times more likely to die in a MV accident than is/are the occupant(s) of the vehicle.
• Pedestrians accounted for 52% of fatalities caused by traffic accidents from 2005-2009.
• Driver inattention accounted for approx. 36% of pedestrian fatalities.
• Most New Yorkers do not know that the standard speed limit for city streets is 30mph.
• 80% of crashes that kill or seriously injure pedestrians involve male drivers.
• 79% of crashes that kill or seriously injure pedestrians involve private automobiles as opposed to taxis, trucks and buses.
• Serious pedestrian crashes are about two-thirds more deadly on major street corridors than on smaller local streets.
• 43% of pedestrians killed in Manhattan lived in another borough or outside of New York City.