Brooklyn By Far the Deadliest Borough for Pedestrians

Wednesday, June 19, 2013 11:01 pm | 2 Minute Read

By Yochonon Donn

More people died from speeding vehicles in Brooklyn than in any other borough, a transportation advocacy group said in a study released this week, with Canarsie being the most dangerous neighborhood and a Williamsburg intersection posting the fastest average speed.

A whopping 79 people were killed in Brooklyn, the city’s most populous borough, in 2011, the latest year with publicly available information, the Transportation Alternatives said. More than 23,000 were injured in car crashes in that year.

Queens had the second-most fatalities with 67, the Bronx had 65, and Manhattan had 45. Staten Island is the safest borough, according to the study, with only 12 fatalities.

The report scrutinizing the information also found that 88 percent of Brooklyn drivers break the city’s 30 mph speed limit, with 30 percent tearing down the street at least 10 mph over the posted speed limit.

On the other hand, the police issued only 2,028 speeding tickets in Brooklyn in 2011.

Transportation Alternatives conducted an experiment, clocking 2,232 drivers breaking the speed limit in four Brooklyn neighborhoods during a 12-hour period last year.

The most hazardous intersections are located in Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Canarsie, Bay Ridge and Midwood.

The most consistently fast cross streets, by more than a mile, are in Canarsie, with 94 percent of drivers exceeding the speed limit on any given day at the Flatlands Avenue and East 107th Street intersection. The fastest driver was discovered at the Williamsburg intersection of Kent Avenue and Rodney Street, tearing through the residential area at more than 60 mph.

The two intersections tied for the highest average speed at 40.8 mph.

Last year, 148 pedestrians were killed in New York City traffic accidents, which was close to an all-time low since the city began keeping such records in 1910. The number of pedestrian fatalities in the city has dropped 23 percent since 2001 alone. The great majority of pedestrians killed or seriously injured in accidents are hit while crossing the street, city studies have found.

State Sen. Daniel Squadron who represents parts of Manhattan and Williamsburg, said the solution is cameras.

“The fact that Brooklyn leads the city in speeding deaths only underscores the need for action,” Squadron said. “Speed cameras are proven to save lives.”

This article appeared in print on page 1 of the June 20th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.