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Tracking Progress: July 2015

Tracker-2015-07Fatalities. There were nine traffic fatalities in Queens in July, including five vehicle occupants, two motorcyclists, one bicyclist and one pedestrian. The neighbors we lost included:

  • Susana Ha (42) and Angelica Ung (10), passengers in a car struck by a speeding SUV in Bayside
  • Troy Smith (41), driver killed in a single car crash in Rochdale
  • Unidentified Male, pedestrian killed on Belt Parkway in Rochdale
  • Garth Jackson (50), passenger killed in two-car crash in Cambria Heights
  • Aron Aranbayev (40), pedestrian killed in hit and run in Forest Hills
  • Unidentified Male (37), motorcyclist killed in collision with car in Kew Gardens
  • Adelso Espinal (32), motorcyclist killed by car after crashing in Hillcrest
  • Kevin Lopez (18), cyclist killed by car in Long Island City

In the 12 months ending July 2015, there have been 77 overall traffic fatalities in Queens, down 17% from the 93 people killed in 2013, the Vision Zero benchmark year. Citywide, there has been a 19% decline in fatalities.

Injuries. In the 12 months ending in July 2015, there have been 2,392 pedestrians injured in Queens by motor vehicles, a decline of 15% from the Vision Zero benchmark year, 2013. In the same time, there have been 864 injuries to cyclists, a rise of 5% since 2013. Overall, including motor vehicle occupants, there have been 15,079 people injured in motor vehicle crashes in Queens over the past year, down 3% since 2013.  Citywide, there has been a 8% reduction in injuries.  While pedestrian injuries have continued to fall in Queens, injuries to cyclists have been rising, likely the result of more cyclists on the road.   Injuries to motorists and passengers has also been rising recently.

Enforcement.  After NYPD’s big June surge in Vision Zero-related traffic enforcement, July saw a significant drop-off in enforcement actions against driving behaviors that put other road users at risk.  Overall, including the four categories we’re tracking (Illegal Cell Phone Use, Disobeying Red Signal, Not Giving Way to Pedestrians, and Speeding), there was a 35% reduction in enforcement actions in Queens in July compared with June of this year.  In the rest of the city, enforcement actions fell only 11%, in part due to an uptick in speeding enforcement not seen in Queens.

See our full report here, including results by borough and community board.