This morning, NYPD released pedestrian, cyclist, and motorist injury data for March. An analysis of these and other NYPD data by Make Queens Safer tracks efforts to improve pedestrian safety across the borough. It includes six indicators, each of which are being tracked on a monthly basis against totals in 2012 and 2013. Two indicators track whether we are bending the curve downward on traffic injuries:
- Pedestrian/Cyclist Injuries and Fatalities
- Vehicle Occupant Injuries and Fatalities
Four indicators track whether we are increasing enforcement of traffic laws:
- Tickets for Failure to Stop at Light
- Tickets for Speeding
- Tickets for Failure to Yield to Pedestrians
- Tickets for Cell Phone Use
Full results by precinct are available on our Statistics page. We’ll be tracking this on a monthly basis. It’s too early to draw strong conclusions from the results, but we can make some quick observations:
In general, there have been fewer injuries so far this year than last year.
- NYPD’s stepped up enforcement of Failure to Yield to Pedestrians can be seen in many precincts starting in October 2013.
- Tickets issued to drivers for Cell Phone Use has been falling – but this probably represents increasing driver compliance with this relatively new law.
- It’s important to keep in mind that many precincts have been emphasizing driver education at this stage – talking with drivers about behaviors that put pedestrians at risk, rather than ticketing them. We anticipate that the enforcement actions will begin to accelerate later in the spring.