New York City streets are getting safer with both traffic deaths and traffic personal injuries trending lower

4,737 people were injured and 21 died in 18,862 traffic accidents in New York City in August according to recent statistics released by the NYPD. The number of motor vehicle accidents has been increasing steadily over the last three years however the number of deaths and injuries are both on a declining trend in the city (click on graphs for a larger view) which indicates that New York City streets are getting a little safer.

 

Pedestrians are the most at risk of dying in a traffic accident in New York City. They represent more than half of the traffic fatalities. Last month 11 of them died after being struck by a vehicle compared to 6 during the previous month and 10 in August 2014.

While pedestrian fatalities are on a downtrend, bicycle accident fatalities have been increasing since the beginning of 2013. Last August 3 cyclists died in accidents. 3 cyclists also died in July bringing to 11 the total number of people who died in a bicycle accident this year. During the same period of 2013 and 2014  there were respectively 7 and 15 bicycle accident fatalities.

 

The total number of people injured in traffic accidents has been pretty much stable over the last few years with over 4,000 people being injured on the roads of NYC every month during the last 4 months. Last August 4,737 people suffered personal injury in traffic accidents compared to 4,776 in July, 4,445 in August 2014 and 4,846 in August 2013. The number of pedestrians injured in vehicle accidents was much lower this summer than it was the two previous summers. In June, July and August they were respectively 769, 696 and 714 pedestrians injured in accidents compared to respectively 941, 787 and 732 in 2014 and 966, 855 and 855 in 2013. The Vision Zero campaign to protect New York pedestrians may have contributed to this decline.

While pedestrians injuries have been decreasing, bicyclists and motorists’ injuries have been reaching record highs. For the last two months there were well over 500 bicyclists injured and over 2,000 motorists injured each month. While the increase in bicycle injuries may be explained by more commuters using their bikes to go to work in the city, the jump in motorist personal injuries is somewhat surprising.

 

With almost no rainy days during the month of August in NYC,  a lot of bikers were on the road resulting in a significant number of accidents as well. There were 340 motorcycle accidents in August compared to 298 in July and 307 in August 2014.

 

Bus accidents are always at an annual low during the month of August in New York City. This may be explained by the schools being closed during this month. However the global trend in NYC bus accidents is up.

 

There were 736 truck accidents in New York City in August 2015 compared to 805 the previous month, 643 in August 2014 and 634 in August 2013. Truck accidents in New York City have been increasing significantly since 2013. In 2013 the monthly number of truck accidents was always below 700.  2 years later in 2015 they were above 700  most of the time and even reached 805 in July.