2024 on Track to Be Deadliest Year in a Decade for NYC Pedestrians, Motorists

NEW YORK (NY Daily News/TNS) — Seventy-eight people in New York have been killed this year in traffic crashes, according to city data, putting 2024 on track to be the deadliest year since the start of the city’s Vision Zero traffic safety program in 2014.

The deadly statistics follow those of 2023, which had a particularly low rate of pedestrian deaths, the DOT said.

“We grieve for the loss of any life on our streets,” DOT spokesman Nick Benson told the Daily News. “After 2023, a year that saw near-record-low pedestrian fatalities and record-high production of protected bicycle lanes in New York City, we remain dedicated to our Vision Zero goals.”

The grim numbers prompted criticism of Vision Zero, the city’s initiative to improve street safety, from Transportation Alternatives, a cycling and safe-streets advocacy group.

“It is unconscionable that this is the deadliest first quarter under Vision Zero, a whole decade after the program first launched,” Danny Harris, Transportation Alternatives executive director, said in a statement. “Whether you’re in a car, walking, biking, or taking transit, everyone should be able to survive just traveling throughout the five boroughs.”

Pedestrians make up the largest portion of those killed, with 35 people fatally struck by motor vehicles so far this year, according to the data, which counts fatalities through Wednesday, April 24.

That compares with 32 pedestrians killed time last year. A total of 102 pedestrians were killed in New York City in 2023.

It’s also been a dangerous year for motorists and passengers, with 24 people killed driving or riding in cars so far. That’s a 50% jump from the same period last year, when 16 people were killed.

In the whole of 2023, 112 people were killed in motor vehicles.

Cycling deaths are trending down. Five people have died riding e-bikes this year, and two people were killed riding traditional pedal bikes. That compares with 2023, which was the second deadliest year on record for cyclists, with 30 people killed biking in city streets.

The seven people killed riding bikes so far in 2024 is 42% lower than the toll this time last year, when eight e-cyclists and four traditional bike riders had been killed.

One person has been killed this year riding a Citi Bike, hit by a car door while riding an e-Citi Bike in Brooklyn. Five Citi Bike riders died last year in total, four on electric bikes.

Seven of last year’s fatal bike crashes were classified as “solo collisions,” meaning the rider lost control or crashed into a stationary object. So far this year, there has been one fatal solo collision.

As for motorcyclists, three have been killed this year, and two people have been killed while riding electrified stand-up scooters.

Seven people have been killed so far while riding illegal mopeds.

Transportation Alternatives analyzed traffic fatality data for January, February and March in a report released last week.

The group has often criticized the city for failing to meet the bike-lane goals laid out in the DOT’s street master plan.

A tracker run by the organization says the city has built just 60 of the 250 miles of protected bike lane the plan requires by 2026.

All of the cyclists killed so far this year were riding on streets without protected bike lanes, according to Transportation Alternatives.

The DOT spokesman said the agency was working on multiple fronts to prevent fatalities.

“Through a series of groundbreaking interventions around education, enforcement and engineering — including new daylighting at 1,000 intersections citywide — we are … hopeful that we can reverse the disturbing trends so far this year,” he said.

Daylighting is the practice of removing parking spots near intersections to improve visibility.