NYC records 60 traffic deaths in 1st quarter of 2024, the most since Vision Zero began

A new report finds that New York City recorded 60 traffic deaths during the first three months of 2024, marking the deadliest start to a calendar year under the city’s Vision Zero program, which launched a decade ago with the goal of improving street safety.

That’s up from 53 traffic deaths during the same period last year and 57 during the same period in 2022, according to an analysis published on Thursday by street safety advocacy group Transportation Alternatives.

“It is unconscionable that this is the deadliest first quarter under Vision Zero, a whole decade after the program first launched,” said Danny Harris, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, in a statement. “New Yorkers don't need any more platitudes, they need and deserve real action from their leaders. Every single one of these deaths was preventable.”

The report notes SUVs and other large vehicles were involved in 79% of the crashes that killed pedestrians and cyclists in the first quarter of a year. No one was killed by a rider of a bicycle or moped, the data shows.

After reaching a 23-year high last year, cyclist deaths are down slightly this year. Data from the city's Department of Transportation shows seven people were killed riding bikes so far this year, compared to 12 during the same period of 2023.

Queens reached what advocates called a “grim milestone” earlier this year, with the borough recording its 750th traffic death since Vision Zero launched in early 2014.

“We grieve for the loss of any life on our streets,” DOT spokesperson Vincent Barone wrote in a statement. “After 2023, a year that saw near-record-low pedestrian fatalities and record-high production of protected bicycle lanes in New York City, we remain dedicated to our Vision Zero goals.”

Barone pointed to the DOT's efforts to improve street safety, including its plan to boost visibility at 1,000 intersections by removing parking spots — a treatment known as “daylighting.”

Tiffany-Ann Taylor, vice president for transportation at the nonprofit Regional Plan Association, called the statistics “jarring,” and urged city officials to redesign more streets to improve safety.

“Continued investment and prioritization of bicycle lane infrastructure that properly protects cyclists is essential to improving the public health of vulnerable roadway users and something that we have long called for, especially in Queens, where cyclists of color face increased risks,” she wrote in a statement.

The report comes less than a week after state lawmakers passed “Sammy’s Law,” a measure long sought by advocates that allows the city to lower its speed limit on most streets to 20 mph.