Twenty-six people died in New York City traffic in July, and 4,922 were injured, according to City Hall’s Vision Zero View crash data map.
[Update: This post was amended on August 23, 2017, to include information on additional crashes.]
City Hall reported 70 pedestrians and cyclists killed by city motorists through July, and 8,074 injured, compared to 80 deaths and 8,502 injuries in the first seven months of 2016.
Twelve motor vehicle occupants died in the city in July, according to City Hall, and 3,778 were injured.
Citywide, 12 pedestrians and two cyclists were fatally struck by drivers. Among the victims were Donna Hahl, Frederick Swope, Kevin Zeng, Neftaly Ramirez, Alejandro Tello, Barbara Horn, and Christopher Swanson. Motorists also struck and killed six people whose identities are not known: one female pedestrian in Queens, two male pedestrians in Manhattan, one male pedestrian in the Bronx, one male pedestrian in Brooklyn, and one male cyclist in Brooklyn.
Motorists killed at least seven seniors in July: Donna Hahl, 70; Barbara Horn, 80; Christopher Swanson, 71; an unnamed Manhattan pedestrian, 87; the unnamed Queens pedestrian, 73; the unnamed Brooklyn cyclist, 81; and the unnamed Brooklyn pedestrian, 83.
Across the city, 667 pedestrians and 477 cyclists were reported hurt in collisions with motor vehicles. Per NYPD policy that has not changed since the 2014 launch of the Vision Zero program, few of these crashes were investigated by trained officers.
Of 13 fatal crashes on surface streets reported by Streetsblog and other outlets, two motorists were known to have been charged for causing a death: The drivers who killed Donna Hahl and Barbara Horn were charged with violating the victims’ right of way.
In five cases where a motorist killed someone walking or biking, NYPD blamed the victims in the press, though investigations of those collisions were still in progress.
NYPD cited no evidence that an unidentified cyclist struck by a driver in Bedford-Stuyvesant caused the crash that killed him, yet the department told the media he ran a red light.
After a motorist killed an 83-year-old man on Flatbush Avenue, which according to DOT crash data is Brooklyn’s most dangerous street for walking, NYPD gave the driver a pass and labeled the octogenarian victim a “jaywalker” in the press.
NYPD said an 87-year-old man killed by a yellow cab driver in Greenwich Village was crossing against the light, but did not say where that information came from. Since the driver was not charged or ticketed for killing a person, he or she faces no sanctions from the Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Cyclist Neftaly Ramirez was killed by an Action Carting driver who left the scene. NYPD declined to file charges for the fatal hit-and-run, and instead made excuses for the driver to the media. The majority of hit-and-run drivers who strike people in NYC are not held accountable in any way.
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.
