Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
NYPD

On-Duty Police Involved in Nearly 4,000 Traffic Collisions Per Year

On-duty NYPD personnel are involved in about 3,900 traffic collisions each year, according to data provided by the department in response to Streetsblog's freedom of information request.

From 2011 through 2015, there were 19,591 collisions involving NYPD vehicles. That's an average of 3,918 crashes annually, or between 10 and 11 collisions a day. (NYPD did not provide information on the severity of crashes, but typically, about 60 percent of all crashes in New York City result in minor injuries, about 17 percent cause more serious injuries or fatalities, and the remainder damage property.)

The annual total ranged from 3,783 crashes in 2014 to 4,019 in 2011. In 2015, the most recent year with available data, there were 3,852 NYPD collisions.

To reduce injuries and deaths from collisions involving city fleet vehicles, in 2014 the Department of Citywide Administrative Services began collecting and sharing data on such crashes. NYPD was the only agency not to provide DCAS with data, which made it impossible for the city and the public to get a complete picture.

Using the numbers from NYPD and data compiled by DCAS, we can now roughly situate police collisions within the context of the entire city fleet:

city fleet collisions_2015

In 2015, DCAS reported 6,132 collisions involving all city agencies other than NYPD [PDF]. The same year, NYPD reported 3,852 collisions, or 38 percent of all crashes in the city fleet. That is somewhat higher than NYPD's 33 percent share of all city vehicles.

The department's crash rate was 3.9 collisions per 100,000 miles in FY 16, up from 3.2 collisions per 100,000 miles in FY 15, according to the Mayor's Management Report. (The DCAS report doesn't include per-mile numbers, so we can't make a comparison to other agencies.)

It's unknown how many police collisions result in death, injury, or property damage. Annual reports from the city comptroller’s office consistently show that NYPD leads city agencies in legal settlement claims, some of which stem from vehicle crashes. That's as close as the public gets to gauging the human toll of NYPD traffic collisions, including police chases that kill innocent bystanders.

With NYPD involved in more collisions than any other city agency, the department should open the books on police crashes, and let the public know how it plans to get those numbers down.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

I Tried to Hate-Ride a Waymo. Turns Out, I Loved It

And therein lies the problem with the autonomous vehicle revolution.

November 24, 2024

Crossing the T’s: State Finally Signs Federal Agreement To Start Congestion Pricing

She can't back out this time — though there still are some court hurdles to leap.

November 22, 2024

Friday’s Headlines: City of Yes Edition

There was only one story yesterday: The embattled mayor succeeded in passing what might become the signature initiative of his one term. But there was other news, too.

November 22, 2024

Analysis: Mayor Gets the ‘W,’ But Council Turns His Zoning Plan into ‘City Of Yes … Sort Of’

The City Council took a crucial step towards passing City of Yes, but it also let low density areas opt out of much of the plan.

November 22, 2024
See all posts