At its current pace, New York City is on track to have one of its deadliest years on the road.
Fifty-one people were killed in traffic crashes during just the first three months of the year, that's according to new numbers released by Transportation Alternatives. That number of deaths represents an 11% increase over the same time period in 2022.
If the trend established in the first quarter of 2023 holds, the city could see the "deadliest year for traffic violence since 2014," the group said Monday.
"As record numbers of New Yorkers are turning to biking, the City must do everything in its power to keep them safe,” said Danny Harris, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "We know what works: smaller vehicles, slower speeds, protected bike and bus lanes, automated enforcement, and better street design – and we need our leaders to treat this crisis with the urgency it deserves.”
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At least one in every three traffic deaths between January and March were in a single borough: Queens. Dolma Naadhum is among those killed. The 7-year-old was hit by an SUV whose driver allegedly failed to come to a complete stop at an Astoria intersection, city officials have said.
New York City streets have proved especially deadly for the city's cyclists. In the same time period, nine riders were killed, that's a record under Vision Zero.
Transportation Alternatives points out this year's cyclist deaths is more than the first quarters of 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 combined. One of the deaths this year was a 37-year-old mother mowed down while riding her bike in Brooklyn. A truck struck Sarah Schick in the bike lane, which was unprotected, in Gowanus back in January.
“New York City cannot continue to drag its feet and ignore major deadlines to construct safe infrastructure, especially after the City completed only two-thirds of its legally mandated protected bike lanes last year," Harris continued.
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