Bicycle Accidents

Published on: September 6, 2014

15 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents in New York City in July compared to 7 in June; this is the highest number of monthly pedestrian fatalities since the beginning of the year

The NYPD Motor Vehicle Collision Data report for the month of July is a blow to the various Vision Zero Initiatives that have been deployed since the beginning of the year to reduce traffic deaths. The initiatives that have been mainly focusing on pedestrian fatalities didn’t seem to have been very effective this summer with the number of pedestrian fatalities more than doubling from 7 to 15 between June and July. 11 cyclists also died since the beginning of the year, almost twice more than in 2013 when 6 cyclists lost their lives during the first 7 months of the year.

Even though the total number of vehicle crashes in NYC was lower last July (17,361) compared to the same month in 2013 (17,548) and compared to the previous month (18,321), the total number of vehicle accidents since the beginning of the year is slightly higher than last year with a total of 118,195 crashes compared to 117,022 for the first seven months of 2013.

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4591 people suffered personal injuries during a vehicle collision in NYC during the month of July, a decrease compared to 4950 in June and 5077 in July 2013. Personal injuries related to vehicle crashes are also down by 7% for the first 7 months of 2014 compared to the first 7 months of 2013 with motorists injuries down by 9%, passengers injuries down by 6%, cyclist injuries down by 3.5% and pedestrian injuries down by 7%.

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Published on: September 2, 2014

What can New York Bicyclists expect from de Blasio?

By GGCRBHS&M

As bicycling in New York became more and more popular and was recognized as a serious mode of transportation, the Bloomberg administration focused on preventing bicycle accidents and increasing cyclist safety by developing a bigger bike network and safer street designs. Bicycling was also encouraged with the development of the Citi Bike program. What bicyclists are seeing in the streets of New York now are all the results of the projects developed when Janette Sadki-Khan was at the head of the DOT during the Bloomberg administration. The projects developed by the de Blasio administration will start to be implemented this fall but the final results will be seen next spring. In a series of 5 articles that started to be published Today in Street Blog, former New York City Department of Transportation Policy Director, Jon Orcutt provides an overview of what New York cyclists can expect under the de Blasio administration.

Read the first article here

Published on: August 28, 2014

City breaks ground on the second part of a project aimed at reducing pedestrian and bicycle accidents at Fordham Plaza, one of the busiest and most dangerous transit hubs in NYC

By GGCRBHS&M

The number of pedestrian and bicycle accidents at Fordham Plaza should decrease significantly by next fall as Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg joined community leaders yesterday to break ground on a plan to completely redesign Fordham Plaza.

Fordham Plaza is one of the busiest transit hubs in the city with the third busiest Metro North Station, 12 bus lines and two schools serving thousands of students. According to the DOT the foot traffic at Fordham Plaza is equivalent to the foot traffic at Herald Square or Penn Station with approximately 80,000 pedestrians over 12 hours. The actual configuration of the Plaza has caused hundreds of pedestrians and cyclists to be injured in traffic accidents over the years. The intersection between Fordham Road and Webster Ave is considered the third most dangerous intersection in the city.

To transform Fordham Plaza into a safe and vibrant place, the NYCDOT and the Economic Development Coprporation have developed plans (see pdf) for a major redesign that includes large public spaces, numerous safety improvements for pedestrians and a bike only street.

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Published on: August 18, 2014

Livery driver charged as aggravated unlicensed operator, motor vehicle license violation: no license, right of way violation: left turn and failure to exercise due care after killing bicyclist this morning in Harlem New York

By GGCRBHS&M

A careless limo driver killed a 25 year old cyclist this morning as he was making a left tun at the intersection of Park Avenue and East 108th Street in Manhattan early this morning. According to Brad Aaron from StreetBlog, “For the third time in two years, a driver has killed a cyclist at the same Park Avenue intersection, under the Metro-North viaduct in East Harlem. In addition to recent fatalities, data show that Park Avenue along the viaduct is a hotspot for cyclist injuries.”The victim, 25 year old Jeffison Garcia of Washington Heights suffered severe head trauma and was declared dead at the hospital. The limo driver, 65 year old Nojeem Odunfa, was driving a car properly licensed to Glory Car and Limo Service, a legitimate livery cab company but he has never been licensed with the Taxi and Limousines Commission. The TLC is investigating how and why Nojeem Odunfa was behind the wheels.

Published on: August 13, 2014

The NYPD started Today the “Operation Safe Cycle”, a two week bicycle safety enforcement initiative to reduce bike accidents in New York

By GGCRBHS&M

The number of bicycle accidents in New York always reaches a peak during the summer months as more people use a bike during the warm season. Last year during the month of August one person died and 533 people suffered personal injury in 655 bicycle accidents in New York City.

Bicycle%20Accidents%20in%20NYC%20June%202014.jpg In an attempt to reduce the bleeding this month of August, THE NYPD launched “Operation Safe Cycle” a two weeks initiative during which the NYPD will target cyclists who are putting their life as well as the lives of other cyclists and pedestrians at risk because they are committing hazardous violations such as disobeying traffic signals or signs, riding in the wrong direction, riding on sidewalks and others. Motorists obstructing bike lanes will also be targeted.

Download the NYPD Operation Safe Cycle Pamphlet here

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Published on: August 6, 2014

The number of pedestrians who died in traffic fatalities in NYC is down by 24% but the number of fatal bicycle accidents is up 33% for the first six months of the year

By GGCRBHS&M

There were 18,321 motor vehicle accidents in New York City in June according to the recent statistics published by the NYPD. This is the highest number of accidents per month in one year and the second consecutive month that this number is above 18,000. A similar increase in vehicle accidents was also observed for the months of May and June last year. During these two months this number was also above 18,000. The total number of motor vehicle accidents for the first six months of 2014 is 8068 compared to 8828 in 2013, a decrease of 9.1%.

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4950 people suffered personal injury in a motor vehicle accident last June compared to 4621 in May and 5046 in June 2014. During the first six months of the year 24,383 people suffered personal injury in a vehicle accident compared to 26,119 for the first six months of 2013, a decrease of 7%.

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For the first 6 months of 2014 there were 117 traffic fatalities compared to 121 in 2013. 20 people died in traffic accidents in June compared to 25 the previous month and 22 in June 2013. The number of motorist deaths was higher than usual for the last two months.

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Published on: July 24, 2014

A New York cyclist suffered serious personal injury after being struck by a bus this morning on the Hudson River Greenway in Hells’ Kitchen

By GGCRBHS&M

A cyclist was seriously inured after he collided with a NY Waterway Bus that was crossing the Hudson River Greenway to go to the 39th Street ferry terminal this morning. The Hudson River Greenway is an 11 mile bike and pedestrian path along the Hudson River that stretches from Battery Park at the South of Manhattan to the Georges Washington Bridge at the North. Many New Yorkers use it to commute to work every day. Several busy driveways leading to various piers, parking and commercial operations cross the Greenway around 40th street making this area one of the most dangerous on the Greenway.

A few years ago, our firm represented the widow of a doctor who died two streets below Today’s accident after being struck by a NYPD tow truck driver who failed to yield.

Another cyclist died after being struck by a drunk driver who drove onto the Greenway from a Chelsea Piers parking lot.

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Published on: July 21, 2014

A teenager suffered serious head trauma in a bicycle accident in which he was struck by a taxi on the Upper West Side of Manhattan yesterday afternoon

By GGCRBHS&M

A 13 year old cyclist was seriously injured yesterday after being hit by a taxi on 108th street near Manhattan Ave on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in NYC. The driver stayed at the scene and wasn’t charged. The teenager was brought to the hospital where he is now in critical but stable condition. He suffers severe head trauma as well as lacerations to his legs and arms. Read more in the NY Daily News.
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Between 300 and 500 people suffer bicycle accident injury every month during the summer in New York City.

Published on: July 9, 2014

The number of people killed and injured in traffic accidents in NYC during the first five months of 2014 decreased compared to the same period of 2013 with pedestrians deaths down by 21% and pedestrian personal injuries down by 7.5%

By GGCRBHS&M

25 people died in vehicle accidents last May in NYC. Among them were 9 pedestrians, 2 cyclists, 3 vehicle passengers and 11 motorists.This is the highest number of people killed during the length of a month on New York City roads since the beginning of the year. Last April 21 people died in vehicle accidents and during the same month a year earlier, 15 people were killed in traffic accidents.
When looking at the numbers since the beginning of the year, the total number of people killed on the road in the city since the beginning of the year is 97 compared to 99 for the same period of 2013.

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The number of pedestrian deaths was 9 during the month of May compared to 8 last April and 6 in May 2013. Since the beginning of the year 48 pedestrians lost their life in a traffic accident compared to 61 for the first 5 months of 2014, a decrease of 21%.

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The number of cyclist deaths in May 2014 was stable at 2 compared to May 2013 and higher than last April, a month during which one cyclist died. The total number of cyclists who died in a traffic accident since the beginning of 2014 is 5 compared to 3 for the first five months of 2013.
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Published on: June 25, 2014

To prevent traffic crashes and protect pedestrians and bicyclists from personal injury and death, the New York State Senate passed a bill to lower the speed limit to 25 mph in New York City

By GGCRBHS&M

A major step in Vision Zero plan to reduce the number of injury and death related to traffic accidents in New York City has been achieved this week. Albany just granted Bill deBlasio the authority to reduce the maximum speed limit from 30 mph to 25mph in all 5 boroughs of New York City.