Vision Zero in New York City is a program that the city implemented to reduce traffic deaths to 50 percent by the year 2025, and eventually reduce them to zero. Vision Zero is also a multi-national program.

At the beginning of 2017, CBS Local News reported that while traffic deaths fell in 2016, pedestrian deaths were on the rise.

The first three years of Vision Zero (2014, 2015 and 2016) showed the lowest statistics since the city began keeping records in 1910.

Nyc.gov indicates that 70% of pedestrian deaths occurred due to reasons pedestrians had no control over, and in particular, the causes were motorists failed to yield the right of way or were speeding.

Vision Zero Methods to Reduce Pedestrian Fatalities

In response to pedestrian fatalities, the NYPD has targeted enforcement against:

• Speeding
• Failure to yield to pedestrians
• Signal violations
• Phoning/texting while driving

NYPD enforcement actions also include issuing more speeding summonses, acquiring more speed guns to track down speeding, and increasing the number of officers trained to use them.

Data Analysis to Increase the Effectiveness of Vision Zero

Analysts review crash data, study and analyze it based on two-year and 28-day periods. In this way, analysts can identify traffic collision patterns throughout NYC and devise law enforcement strategies that can target problem areas through the use of moving violations summonses. Police officers also receive training that includes the preparation of collision reports.

Data shared with all relevant City agencies helps enable more effective prosecution efforts as well.

Automated enforcement is also valuable, such as speed cameras and red light cameras, which help deter violations.

The concerted effort that goes into Vision Zero is teamwork to provide NYC with enforcement that tackles traffic accidents.

Have You Been Involved in a Serious Accident?

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a car accident, it is vital to seek legal help as soon as possible. Sackstein Sackstein & Lee, LLP offers a free consultation to discuss your accident and we can determine whether you have ground to pursue personal injury compensation.