Stat Check: Manhattan Vehicular Killings Outpacing Gun Deaths in 2012

Last week, Mayor Bloomberg, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance announced the indictments of 16 defendants allegedly involved in illegal gun trafficking.

Said Vance, in a written statement:

"One of the reasons New York is the safest big city in the nation is because we employ every tool available to us -- including legislation, litigation and enforcement -- to take illegal guns off our streets," said Bloomberg.

The same can not be said of illegal and careless driving. While gun violence is down in the city, traffic fatalities spiked in the last fiscal year. In Manhattan, 26 pedestrians and cyclists were killed in collisions with motor vehicles from January through August, according to NYPD data compiled by Streetsblog, and 2,664 were injured.

Through August of this year, someone died in New York City traffic about every 30 hours, on average, and an injury occurred every 14 seconds. There is no concerted effort between city prosecutors and NYPD to get those numbers down, or to ensure that victims get justice. To the contrary, few crashes are even investigated.

Imagine a photo op to tout 2,664 gun-related injuries, or a citywide gun crimes investigation unit comprised of just 19 officers, like the NYPD Accident Investigation Squad.

Until police and electeds treat vehicular violence as seriously as other public health threats, traffic casualties will be the asterisk at the bottom of every self-congratulatory law enforcement press release.