Car accidents and the serious injuries and fatalities that can result from them are an ongoing problem in a city as large and as busy as New York. The city authorities and law enforcement are constantly trying to find ways to make the streets safer. One tactic that appears to be showing promise is Vision Zero. The program was implemented in 2014. Since then, the number of deaths in auto accidents has reduced across the city except for Staten Island. However, 2017 has been a better year for the borough than it was in the previous two.
So far in 2017, there have been five fatalities in traffic accidents. At this point in 2016, there were seven. In 2015, there were 10. There has also been a reduction in overall auto accidents. Through early June, there were slightly fewer than 5,100 crashes on Staten Island. By that date in 2016, there had been 5,259. Although the number of accidents has lowered, the number with injuries is rising with an increase of more than 11 percent from 2016.
It is believed that law enforcement’s attempts to reduce the number of speeding vehicles has been effective. The number of moving violations that were issued for vehicles going beyond the speed limit was 3,425 through May of 2017. In that same time frame, there were 2,530 in 2016 and 2,272 in 2015 respectively. The crackdown on speeders has not lowered the number of pedestrian accidents. The most recent statistics show that there were 164 pedestrians injured for the time-period. In 2016, that number was 154.
What these statistics show is that no matter how vigilant the city government and law enforcement are and no matter how careful drivers and pedestrians are, there will always be a looming danger of car collisions and the accompanying issues after they have happened. There can be massive medical bills, lost time at work, the need for rehabilitative care and more. If there is a fatality, the family left behind will need to learn to move forward without their loved one in every aspect of their lives. The accident investigation and gathering of evidence is often the key to a legal filing. After a crash, the first call that should be made is to a legal professional who is experienced in car accidents.
Source: silive.com, “Vision Zero making impact? Fatal crashes on Staten Island down,” Paul Liotta, June 19, 2017
