Today, Transportation Alternatives released Executive Order: A Mayoral Strategy for Traffic Safety (PDF). The report shows startling gaps in the way NYC deters the most dangerous driving behaviors. Based on analysis of the known rates of driver infraction and summonsing by the NYPD, Executive Order produced the following key findings:

• A driver could speed every day in NYC and get ticketed only once every 35 years.
• While the number of traffic fatalities caused by speeding rose 11 percent between 2001 and 2006, the number of summons issued for speeding dropped 22 percent during that period.
• Police and enforcement cameras combined catch only 1 out of every 438 red light runners.
• A driver could fail to yield (the number two cause of crashes in NYC) every single day and get ticketed only once every 1,589 years.
• While the number of traffic fatalities caused by drivers failing to yield rose 26 percent between 2005 and 2007, the number of summons issued for failing to yield decreased 12 percent during that period.

The cumulative actions of government create practically no deterrence to dangerous driving behavior, giving New Yorkers little reason to follow the rules of the road. By interviewing more than 30 experts on enforcement, traffic, public health and litigation, T.A. found that poor interagency coordination is a primary cause of these shortcomings. To take control of New York's streets and establish an effective deterrence against dangerous driving, the report makes the following recommendations:

• Create an Office of Road Safety at City Hall in charge of reducing traffic violations, crashes, injuries and fatalities.
• Have the DMV distribute points to licenses from the time of conviction, not retroactively from adjudication, in order to keep dangerous drivers off the road.
• Reemploy the former NYPD policy of deploying officers to areas with frequent crashes.
• Measure traffic safety in the Mayor's Management Report through incident reduction, not summons issued.

"You could drive a car straight through the gaps in NYPD enforcement, and as it turns out, many New Yorkers do," says Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "Our study shows what most New York City drivers have already figured out: no one is watching." "Fair weather tolerance of reckless drivers will only get more innocent pedestrians killed," says John Adler, President of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. "Both the Mayor and our State Legislature need to support the enactment of stronger laws that allow law enforcement to target reckless motor vehicle operators."

"The most precious gift anyone receives is the gift of life, and when it is taken away because of the careless and reckless actions of another as a society we have a moral obligation to abide by the principles of the land and execute them accordingly to exact the proper penalty, as that life is gone forever," says Audrey Anderson, whose son was killed by a speeding driver in 2005.

The report's recommendations are reiterated in an open letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg which has been cosigned by 26 notable organizations and individuals including Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Disabled in Action, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, SafeKids USA, Zipcar, Right of Way, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Citizens Committee for NYC, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, Center for Independence of the Disabled NY, Harlem Independent Living Center, Disabilities Network NYC, Bronx Independent Living Services, Washington Heights Inwood Interagency Council on Aging, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1056 and James Huntley, President of the CWA Local 1182, representing all of New York City's Traffic Enforcement Agents.

Full report is available for download at:
transalt.org/files/newsroom/reports/2009/Executive_Order.pdf (PDF)
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