- December 31st, 2022
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In the report, Monitoring Progress in Urban Road Safety, authors from the International Transport Forum compare the decrease in road traffic deaths across 22 major cities that participated in a pledge to reduce traffic deaths. New York City is the only US city included, and one of just four where the city significantly outperformed national-level safety figures.
Between 2010 and 2020, NYC’s traffic deaths fell 19%, while the US death rate rose 8% – an improvement that translates into a significant number of saved lives. And, according to the authors, there is reason to believe that the city can do better now that the framework and the constituency for safety reforms is in place.
In the US, Vision Zero cities operate in a national environment of increased traffic deaths – especially for pedestrians, who are overrepresented in urban crashes. Nationally, thanks to a combination of factors (most importantly growth in SUVs and extra-large pickups), deaths of pedestrians have grown 62% nationally since 2009, according to the nonprofit advocacy organization Smart Growth America.
