New York City Suffers Worst Quarter for Serious Injuries from Traffic Crashes under Mayor Adams, According to New Analysis from Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets

“Serious injury” is a strict legal definition that signifies life-altering injuries such as loss of a limb, organ, or fetus.

There have been 11,330 serious injuries from traffic crashes since 2022.

NEW YORK — During the most recent quarter of 2025, serious injuries were at an all-time high under the Adams administration, according to the City’s own data analyzed by Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets. New York City’s Vision Zero program aims to “end deaths and serious injuries in traffic,” but serious injury data is rarely analyzed publicly. 

During the first three quarters of 2025, there were 2,303 New Yorkers seriously injured in traffic — including 633 pedestrians, 356 bicyclists (including riders on both electric and acoustic bikes), 1,186 motorists, and 128 other motorists (“other motorists” includes New Yorkers riding mopeds or e-scooters). Since serious injury data became publicly available in 2022, thanks to the passage of City Council Local Law 049 in 2021, there have been 11,330 New Yorkers seriously injured in traffic — including 13 cases of paralysis, 66 amputations, 1,035 crush injuries, and more. 

“It’s alarming that despite impressive reductions in fatalities, serious injuries from traffic crashes are the highest they’ve been during the Adams administration” said Ben Furnas, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “New York City needs to be committed to ending serious injuries on our streets, but unfortunately, under Mayor Adams, the City has spent its time stalling street safety projects and botching the rollout of Sammy’s Law. The next administration has a powerful opportunity and imperative to recommit to Vision Zero and prevent New Yorkers from being maimed on our streets. Mayor-elect Mamdani can do this by lowering speed limits to 20 mph, moving forward with stalled safety projects, implementing universal daylighting, and slowing down the most dangerous repeat speeders."

"In 2023, I was seriously injured by a turning car as I walked across Queens Boulevard. This crash left me with serious physical and psychological trauma that I continue to experience today," said Families for Safe Streets member Maria Kaufer. "Thousands of New Yorkers are living with serious injuries caused by traffic crashes that were completely preventable. Families for Safe Streets will continue to demand that we prioritize safety when designing our streets and vehicles until we reach Vision Zero and no one else is affected by these horrific crashes."

“For every fatality, there are 11 serious injuries. That’s 11 New Yorkers whose lives are permanently changed from a traffic crash,” said Jack Greenwood, Research Associate at Transportation Alternatives. “While this data is publicly available, I’ve put in the work to map, analyze, and verify every serious injury over the past several years. This new data should illustrate the depth of the violence on our streets and inspire the City to fully deliver on Vision Zero.”

Key takeaways:

More New Yorkers were seriously injured in the third quarter of 2025 than any other during the Adams administration. 940 New Yorkers were seriously injured in the third quarter of 2025, 5% more than the average third quarter. 

Pedestrian, bicyclist, and motorist serious injuries have seen double-digit increases year-to-date from 2022 to 2025. Over that time period, pedestrian serious injuries have increased 13%, bicyclist serious injuries have increased 16%, and motorist serious injuries have increased 10%. 

Serious injuries are devastating Queens residents. Serious injuries have increased by 34% in the World’s Borough during the current administration, from 471 in the first nine months of 2022 to 631 in the first nine months of 2025. Queens has seen more serious injuries in the first nine months of 2025 than Staten Island has seen cumulatively since 2022. 

Council District 8 in Manhattan and the Bronx, represented by Council Member Diana Ayala, has the most serious injuries per capita, with 21.9 residents per 10,000 seriously injured since 2022 — a rate 70% higher than the average district. District 3 in Manhattan, represented by Council Member Eric Bottcher, ranks as the worst district for pedestrians, with 6.2 pedestrians per 10,000 residents seriously injured. District 6 in Manhattan, represented by Council Member Gale Brewer, ranks as the worst district for bicyclists. Manhattan has 29% more pedestrian serious injuries and 24% more bicyclist serious injuries per capita than the citywide average, and the Bronx has 30% more motorist serious injuries per capita than the citywide average.

There are 18% more serious injuries per capita in the top 10 lowest-income city council districts than the citywide average. In these council districts, pedestrian injuries are 21% higher, bicyclist injuries are 15% higher, motorist injuries at 15% higher, and other motorist injuries are 35% higher, compared to the citywide per capita averages since 2022. (Other motorists includes New Yorkers riding mopeds or e-scooters).

Here’s what the incoming Mamdani administration can do to fix this crisis:

Widely implement Sammy’s Law. Sammy’s Law empowers New York City to lower the speed limit to 20 mph on the vast majority of roads in the five boroughs, but the Adams administration implemented the law on less than 2% of eligible streets. Since 2022, 93% of serious injuries have occurred on streets with a speed limit 25 mph or higher.

Move forward on stalled or watered-down street safety projects. The Adams administration left unfinished projects all over the city, from Fordham Road in Belmont, to Canal Street in Manhattan, to Third Avenue in Sunset Park. On Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, which was improved late last year, serious injuries are down for pedestrians and bike riders — but the Adams administration recently moved to rip up the safety project. On Third Avenue, 29 New Yorkers have been seriously injured on the 2.4-mile stretch between 15th Street and 65th Street since 2022, but the improvement project remains stalled. McGuinness Boulevard, which is still waiting on a corridor-long safety improvement, has seen 13 serious injuries between Meeker Street and the Pulaski Bridge since 2022. 

Enact universal daylighting. Daylighting — the process of repurposing parking spots closest to an intersection to improve visibility for everyone — is already saving lives and preventing crashes around the world. In New York City, our intersections are especially dangerous — 71% of serious injuries took place at intersections, but only a minority of the City’s nearly 50,000 intersections are daylit. 

Push for Stop Super Speeders. Lowering speed limits will lead to safer vehicle operation for almost every driver, except for a tiny minority: “super speeders.” These few but extraordinarily dangerous drivers rack up massive numbers of speed camera tickets and are disproportionately responsible for serious injuries on our streets. The Stop Super Speeders bill in Albany would physically slow them down by mandating the installation of a speed-limiting device in their car — a technology which is already in use across New York City’s municipal fleet. The bill passed the State Senate in 2025, but stalled in the Assembly. To protect New Yorkers, the next mayor should urge the legislative chamber he recently left to take up the bill, and then champion its implementation.

Here’s what elected officals are saying:

"Safer streets will not happen automatically. We must work to enact a street safety agenda that once and for all ends fatalities and serious injuries on our streets," said Council Member Keith Powers. "This means implementing universal daylighting, lowering speed limits and slowing down the most notorious speeders on our streets by passing the Stop Super Speeders bill. For a city always on the move, we need these thoughtful policies in place to keep New Yorkers safe and make traffic injuries a thing of the past.”

“My neighborhood, Sunset Park, has been plagued by disheartening street safety issues. Despite community members calling for investment in ending traffic violence, multiple projects have been stalled. I am heartbroken over the neighbors we have lost on our streets this year and want to ensure that we take measures to prevent any further tragedies. I’m glad that Transportation Alternatives is shining a light on these issues so we can keep street safety top of mind in our city,” said Council Member Alexa Avilés.