Over 7,000 vulnerable street users were injured in New York City traffic in the first six months of 2012, and 79 were killed, according to NYPD data reports compiled by Streetsblog.
Across the city from January through June, 67 pedestrians and 12 cyclists were fatally struck by motorists: 18 pedestrians and two cyclists in Manhattan; nine pedestrians and one cyclist in the Bronx; 22 pedestrians and five cyclists in Brooklyn; 15 pedestrians and three cyclists in Queens; and three pedestrians and one cyclist in Staten Island.
With 27 deaths, Brooklyn saw the most vulnerable user fatalities, followed by Manhattan with 20, Queens with 18, the Bronx with 10 and Staten Island with four.
Of 55 pedestrian and cyclist fatalities reported by Streetsblog and other outlets, 13 were hit-and-run crashes in which the driver was not immediately caught or identified. Of the remaining 42 crashes, five motorists were known to have been charged for causing a death. In four of those cases, the driver was also charged with driving while intoxicated. In the fifth case, the driver was accused of running over the victim intentionally. Historically, nearly half of motorists who kill a New York City pedestrian or cyclist do not receive so much as a citation for careless driving.
Through June, 5,720 pedestrians and 1,651 cyclists were hurt in collisions with motor vehicles, for a total of 7,371 vulnerable street users injured city-wide. Per NYPD policy, few if any of these crashes were investigated by trained officers, even those resulting in serious, life-altering injuries.
Thirty-seven motorists and 26 passengers died in the city from January through June; 9,285 and 10,348 were injured, respectively.
There were 98,008 reported motor vehicle crashes city-wide in the first six months of 2012.
Last year, 139 pedestrians and 22 cyclists were killed by city drivers. Data on 2011 injuries is not yet available.
