
Why Do So Many Pedestrian Deaths Occur in New York?
New York City is generally considered the most walkable city in the country. No other city in the country boasts of so many walkable urban spaces as NYC does. Data from the US Census shows that over 60% of NYC residents walk or take transit to work, rather than relying on a personal vehicle.
Unfortunately, NYC also happens to be a city where a large number of pedestrian accidents take place every year. In 2018, 114 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents, accounting for 57% of all traffic-related fatalities in the city.
Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that the pedestrian fatality rate in NYC is higher than that of any other city in the country. This is one of the reasons why NYC came up with Vision Zero β a policy which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities altogether.
The Vision Zero policy was implemented in NYC back in 2014. While some progress has been made, pedestrians still continue to bear the brunt of traffic accidents in most cases.



