New York City Is On Track To Have the Deadliest Year For Bike Riders Since 1999, New Data From Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets Shows
Drivers of cars, trucks, and other large vehicles caused 99% of pedestrian fatalities.
Crashes killed 25 bike riders in the first nine months of this year.
New York City is on track to have the second deadliest year for bike riders in recorded history.
NEW YORK — During the first nine months of 2023, traffic crashes killed 183 people, including 25 bike riders, according to a new analysis from Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets.
This data comes after both the first and second quarters of 2023 were deadlier than the Vision Zero-era average. The 200th bike rider killed by traffic violence since the onset of Vision Zero was killed on September 21, and 2,339 total New Yorkers have been killed since the launch of Vision Zero.
“Mayor Adams has the tools to end traffic violence and yet he continues to put politics over people. We’re facing a crisis of traffic violence on our streets — 183 New Yorkers killed in traffic violence and the deadliest two years for bike riders under any mayor in recorded history,” said Danny Harris, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “Announcements alone are not infrastructure. Promises won’t keep bike riders safe – but completed, fully-protected bike lanes will. The time to act is now. Fast track the Streets Plan without any more delays or excuses. Lives depend on it.”
“Just six months ago, my family was shattered forever by the loss of my sweet, caring 16-year-old son Jayden, who was killed riding his bike near our home in Queens by the driver of a speeding SUV. Jayden was a loving son, grandson, brother, nephew, cousin, and friend. To know Jayden was to love him and to love Jayden was to know him. Those who knew Jayden loved him. I miss him so much and feel pain every day on a level I once would’ve thought impossible,” said Families for Safe Streets member Porscha McLaurin. “We should not have to beg Mayor Adams and the City Council to complete legal requirements to build safe streets. The lack of action from Mayor Adams is insulting to people like me and everyone who has lost a loved one to traffic crashes. Mayor Adams, save other New Yorkers from knowing our pain. Act now. Make our streets safe.”
Key takeaways from the first nine months of 2023:
New York City is on track to have the deadliest year for bike riders since 1999. This is already the deadliest first two years of any mayor’s term for bike riders in recorded history, and there are still three months left in 2023. 25 bike riders have been killed in the first nine months of this – 58% more than the Vision Zero-era average at this point, and ten more than were killed by this point in any of the past three years.
This has been the second-safest year during the Vision Zero era for pedestrians. As fatalities for some other modes increased, this was the second safest first nine months for pedestrians since Vision Zero was announced. With political will and leadership, the City can take steps to keep vulnerable users safe, and must take more steps to protect bike riders.
94% of bike riders killed by a vehicle were killed on streets without protected bike lanes. Protected bike lanes save lives, and make streets significantly safer for all road users. They reduce fatalities and serious injuries for all road users by 18.1%. While cycling rates are up, the City’s protected bike lane production hasn’t kept up – based on the City’s own data, only 3% of New York City’s streets have a protected bike lane.
Cars, trucks, and other large vehicles caused 99% of pedestrian fatalities. The rise of SUVs and larger vehicles has had deadly consequences for the most vulnerable people on our streets. SUVs were the most lethal vehicles on our roads in the first nine months of 2023, killing 52 people in total, 36 of whom were walking or riding bikes.
Motorist fatality rates are significantly higher in majority-Latino and majority-Black City Council Districts, respectively. The burden of traffic violence does not affect all areas of the city equally. In City Council districts where the majority of residents are Latino, motorist fatality rates were 23% higher and cyclist fatality rates were 15% higher than the citywide average, and in City Council districts where the majority of residents are Black, motorist fatality rates were 75% higher than the citywide average.
Council District 31 had the most fatalities during the first nine months of 2023. District 31, represented by Council Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Selvena Brooks-Powers, continues to suffer the most traffic fatalities. During the first three quarters of the year, 11 New Yorkers were killed in District 31, three times more than the number of fatalities in the average council district.
Here’s what our elected officials must do:
Finish the NYC Streets Plan. The legal mandates of the NYC Streets Plan are not optional. Last year, the Adams administration failed to build all of the required 30 protected bike lane miles. So far this year, they’ve completed just 13.5 out of 50 miles. In addition to protected bike lanes, the NYC Streets Plan requires the construction of new bus lanes, pedestrian space, upgraded intersections, and more.
The City Council must pass Intro 417 to speed up bike lane construction. Under current law, bike lane projects are treated differently than other street improvement work, and there’s a required three month waiting period between announcing a bike lane project and breaking ground. This stall time is unique to bike lane projects and only makes it more difficult to build essential street safety infrastructure when our city needs it most. Intro 417 from Council Member Lincoln Restler, and co-sponsored by a majority of the City Council, would eliminate arbitrary waiting periods that apply only to bike lane projects.
The Adams administration must follow through with essential street safety projects. Since this summer, this administration has watered down or canceled vital projects — this includes the street redesign of McGuinness Boulevard; a busway on the second-most dangerous street for pedestrians citywide, Fordham Road; and the last stretch of Ashland Place.
What elected officials are saying:
“Traffic violence has stolen the lives of too many New Yorkers, but it doesn’t have to be this way. We must prioritize safer streets to protect our communities and make the city a place where every New Yorker can move about safely and without fear,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. “Inaction is not an option when lives are at stake on our roads every day.”
“All New Yorkers, regardless of where they live or how they move around our city, deserve to be safe from traffic violence,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams. “The high volume of traffic crashes that have resulted in fatalities, including for cyclists, is both upsetting and preventable. As a city, we must take vital steps to make our streets safer and address the inequities in infrastructure investments that are prevalent in under-resourced communities. The Council will continue to work with all stakeholders to advance equitable policies and confront this crisis.”
"I am deeply alarmed by the high incidence of traffic violence this year, including and especially in my district,” said New York City Council Majority Whip Selvena N. Brooks-Powers, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. "The report underscores the urgent need for investments in our street infrastructure and also reflects historic failures to prioritize investments in outer-borough communities like the one I represent. That's why the Council will vote this week on Introduction 1164 - to help ensure that under-resourced neighborhoods are receiving an equitable share of the City's infrastructure investments - and why we are holding the Department of Transportation accountable to meet its legal obligations under the Streets Plan. Street safety will remain the top priority of the Council's Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure."
“The deadliest year for bike riders since 1999, and it's only been 24 years since then. Yet, somehow, we're going backward, not forward,” said Diana Ayala, Deputy Speaker of the New York City Council. “It's unacceptable that we, as a city, continue to allow this to happen. We made a commitment to achieve Vision Zero here in New York City, and it's about time that we get serious about fulfilling that promise.”
"The Adams Administration has failed to keep cyclists safe. Bike lane installations are down 23% and 2023 is on track to be one of the deadliest years on record for cyclists in the past 40 years. We must prioritize creating a truly protected network of bike lanes and implement essential safety improvements for pedestrians in order to make Vision Zero more than just a slogan,” said Council Member Lincoln Restler.
What advocates are saying:
"Our streets are broken — unsafe and unfair," said Riders Alliance Policy & Communications Director Danny Pearlstein. "Rather than cave to arrogant outsiders with their hands glued to their steering wheels, Mayor Adams must follow the Streets Plan law. Rather than empower vengeful drivers within City Hall, our mayor must keep his promise to bus riders and all New Yorkers who step outside and deliver the busways and safety improvements essential to New York's future."
“It is so sad and scary to see New York's traffic deaths reach record numbers. Every lost life this year, and every year, was preventable. Yet our leaders continue to equivocate on urgently needed street redesigns. Mayor Adams must correct course immediately and place New Yorkers' lives above all other interests. Every road user is at risk right now; our lives will depend on this administration's swift completion of the legally mandated Streets Plan, and a complete reprioritization toward safe, people-friendly, life-saving streets,” said Sara Lind, Co-Executive Director at Open Plans.
"These numbers on traffic deaths show just how much more we need to do to prevent traffic violence on New York City Streets. We know the tactics to calm traffic and provide safer spaces for cyclists and pedestrians can reduce car-inflicted injuries and death. We need our elected officials and agency leaders to do more to address these tragedies in the face of vitriol. Decisive action that fosters more effective organization and implementation for Vision Zero efforts can help us realize the safer streets we deserve,” said Maulin Mehta, New York Director, Regional Plan Association.
"Street safety is a workplace issue for New York City's 65,000 food delivery workers. The Worker's Justice Project and Los Deliveristas Unidos are committed to working with Transportation Alternatives, Families for Safe Streets, and elected officials at all levels of government to make New York City's streets safer for all," said Ligia Guallpa, Executive Director of the Worker's Justice Project. "Each day, our essential food delivery workers put their lives on the line in our streets. In order to better protect delivery workers and every New Yorker, we must bring all stakeholders to the table so that we can build a safe and equitable micro-mobility infrastructure."
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