February 2022 was the deadliest on the roads of New York in the last 14 years
'04.03.2022'
Nurgul Sultanova-Chetin
Last month, New York City recorded its highest rate of traffic deaths since 2008, according to reports. New York Post.
A total of 23 pedestrians, cyclists and motorists died on the streets of New York in February, the human rights group Transportation Alternatives said. This is twice as much as in the same period of 2021.
In the second half of 2021, red-light driving violations rose 50 percent from two years earlier, the last full year of data prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report.
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Alarming statistics show the need to strengthen urban red light programs and speed cameras, which have been effective in reducing accidents in the state Albany.
State law currently limits the number of cameras capturing red light driving. At the same time, speed cameras can only be installed near schools and are turned off at night. A disproportionate number of fatal crashes occur at night, according to city statistics.
“New York City has 13 signalized intersections. The red light camera program, limited to only 250 cameras, is grossly inadequate, said Sandra Voss, a member of Families for Safe Streets, a group of people who have lost loved ones in crashes. “We have proven tools to save lives, we just need Albany to let the City of New York use them to their full potential.”
City Transportation Commissioner Idanis Rodriguez, whose boss is the Mayor of New York Eric Adams doubled the number of cameras and other strategies from its predecessor's "Vision Zero" program.
After former mayor Bill de Blasio took office, the number of traffic accidents initially decreased, but has seen a significant increase since 2018. In his final year in office, the number of deaths in traffic accidents was higher than in previous years, according to city statistics.