Slowing Down the Streets of NYC

Residents and visitors of New York City alike know how heavy traffic can be, and whether you drive or not, that traffic can directly affect your safety. Mayor Bill de Blasio, the City of New York, the Department of Transportation (DOT), and the Vision Zero Network (a collaborative campaign to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries) take safety seriously, and the safety of children is prioritized. As a result, they’ve turned down the speed limit by five miles per hour on many of the city’s most accident-laden streets (that see some of the heaviest bike and pedestrian traffic). They are also making other coordinated efforts to help stem the rash of dangerous driving the boroughs have been experiencing since the downturn in traffic associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. If you’ve been injured as a result of another motorist’s negligence, an experienced personal injury attorney in NYC can help.

The Important Task at Hand

The City of New York shares on its official NYC website that all of the following safety enhancements are in the process of being implemented:

• A reduction in the speed limit by 5 miles per hour on 25 miles of some of the city’s major streets
• The activation of cameras in of the city’s 750 school zones, which represents the world’s largest network of speed cameras (more cameras were installed in NYC in 2020 than in Vision Zero’s first six years combined)
• Enhanced enforcement of speed limits by the city’s police department

Mayor de Blasio shares that New York City’s children deserve safe, livable communities – and Vision Zero’s groundbreaking work will protect them in their streets.

Speed Plays a Major Role in Traffic Fatalities

Speed plays an outsized role in fatal traffic accidents, and the speed reductions implemented are intended to help keep everyone safer – especially the most vulnerable, including school children, pedestrians, and bicyclists. The city’s corridors that are most prone to traffic accidents have been targeted. While the pandemic sweeping the nation and the city has reduced traffic considerably, it’s spawned a disturbing trend of increased speeding, and the authorities are taking charge and making changes to help put an end to this dangerous development.

Vision Zero 

Vision Zero is a safety initiative that began in Sweden in the 1990s. In 2014, New York City became the first major U.S. city to adopt Vision Zero, and this translates to using every available tool to help end traffic deaths and serious injuries on the streets of NYC. Since its inception in the city, traffic deaths have been reduced by more than a quarter – while they’ve seen a national increase of 15 percent.

Slow Down and Call an Experienced NYC Personal Injury Attorney Today

If a speeding motorist leaves you injured in a traffic accident, the formidable personal injury attorneys at Lipsig, Shapey, Manus & Moverman – proudly serving the City of New York for more than 60 years – are committed to employing their considerable experience and skill in ardent defense of your rights and on behalf of your claim’s most beneficial resolution. For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact or call us at 212-285-3300 today.