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New York City is one of the most congested cities in the world, which makes driving inside Manhattan in particular, a risky business at best and a deadly business for drivers and pedestrians at worst. The streets of NYC have literally become a killing field, especially under the reign of now ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio. 

Says The Barnes Firm, a car accident lawyer in NYC, it's almost impossible for your average pedestrian to predict the actions of someone driving a car or truck. This makes them susceptible to collisions with everything from motorcycles to SUVs to box trucks. 

These accidents, which can cause serious injury and even death, are more often than not, the result of driver inattentiveness including texting, talking on a cell phone, eating and drinking, drunk driving, and much more. It can also be the result of poorly designed intersections.     

According to a recent news report put together by Transportation Alternatives (TA) about the dangers of New York City streets, last year alone, crashes resulted 124 pedestrian deaths, 50 motorcyclist deaths, 20 cyclist deaths, plus another 15 innocent people on bikes and mopeds. 

This is the worst year for deaths caused by vehicular collisions in over a decade. When you figure in the spike in violent crime, including numerous smash-and-grabs, and police assassinations, New York City has become one heck of a dangerous place in the 2020s.   

Hit-and-Runs

What's more alarming is that the TA report identified an "alarming" increase in hit-and-runs. These incidents have doubled over the past three year along with over a 40 percent increase in deaths that involved SUVs.  

Said the Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, another year cannot go by with the amount of pedestrian deaths caused by vehicular violence. 

But within a week of that statement going public, drivers killed pedestrians in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, at least two of them teenagers. The Director added that New York's political leaders must use every tool at their disposal to prevent what is becoming a "preventable pubic health crisis." It also doesn't help that those arrested for hit-and-run altercations cannot be detained in jail due to New York State's "no bail" Democratic policies.   

Lack of Arrests

Under Mayor Bill de Blasio's two terms as New York City Mayor, road fatalities reached a 15-year high. This is according to the National Traffic Safety Administration put together in 2021. During his second term in particular, the amount of fatalities that involved SUVs spiked by 42 percent when compared with his first term. 

Says the TA report, in 2021 there occurred at least 93 hit-and-runs that resulted in critical injuries. Arrests were made in only 23 of those cases. Only 3 percent of all hit-and-run cases were ever solved. 

It should be noted that SUVs make up over 60 percent of all privately owned vehicles currently on the roads of New York City, or so states the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. These big, more powerful vehicles are said to pose a real risk along with "deadly implications" for people riding bikes and pedestrians crossing streets on foot. 

Enter the New Mayor

The new report is urging newly sworn in Mayor Eric Adams to adopt a proactive approach to stemming traffic collisions with pedestrians. It also details improvements to which the new mayor is said to have already committed, such as redesigning more than 1,000 intersections that will control driver's speed and fortifying bike lane barriers, both of which are engineered to protect pedestrians.   

Major Trauma

One Families for Safe Streets member who lost her sister to a vehicular collision back in 2017 says that no more New Yorkers should have to suffer the major trauma and suffering that comes with losing a loved to a car crash. Sadly, a record number of families have had to endure this kind of pain and suffering in 2021 alone. 

New, proactive steps already being taken by Mayor Adams along with his new administration are said to give New Yorkers hope that the deadly pedestrian fatality trend is about to be reversed in 2022 and beyond, especially with the plan to redesign more than 1,000 intersections entirely for pedestrian safety reasons.  

NYC DOT statistics prove that more than 60 percent of pedestrians killed by drivers in 2021 met their fate at the hands of "major violators" who, not only fled the scene, but who had at least three prior convictions and/or did not possess a valid New York State driver's license.