Traffic Deaths In NYC Hit 100-Year Low

Walking and driving in New York City may be getting safer, according to new statistics that found that traffic deaths are at their lowest number in a century.

Zak Failla

01/21/2019 5:00 a.m.

The New York Transportation Department reported that 196 people were killed in traffic accidents through Dec. 26 last year, an 11 percent decrease from 2017. The mark is the lowest in 100 years, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The news, however, came with a caveat; although overall deaths declined, the number of pedestrians killed in traffic increased last year, city officials noted last week. The number is the lowest since the city began tracking such deaths in 1910.

Reports found that the number of bicyclist deaths dropped last year to 10, from 24 in 2017. The number of people who died in vehicles also fell to 37, from 58 in 2017. But the number of motorcyclist deaths increased to 39, from 33 in 2017.

According to reports, the decrease in traffic deaths comes as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “Vision Zero” plan, which began in 2014 and is designed to eliminate such deaths. The plan calls for a reduction in speed limits on city streets and street redesigns to improve pedestrian safety.

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