NYC traffic fatality report: lessons for Jo'burg too

This week, the New York City Department of Transportation published a major report that for the first time explored over 7,000 auto crashes that resulted in pedestrian or injury death.  Describing the report as "equal parts safety manual and urban portrait," an article in the New York Times highlighted some of the findings, which certainly resonated with my experiences walking in Johannesburg.  My earlier post about the difficulty crossing the street in designated crosswalks rings true in the Big Apple too:  expressing surprise at the findings, the article reports, "Jaywalkers were involved in fewer collisions than their law-abiding counterparts who waited for the “walk” sign," though pointing out that "they were likelier to be killed or seriously hurt by the collision."

Looking at the report itself, there are extremely important findings that any city should carefully note.  Pedestrians are incredibly vulnerable: they accounted for over half of traffic fatalities and were over 10 times more likely than a motor vehicle occupant to die in a crash.  Driver education is lacking: most drivers did not know the city's standard speed limit.  And speed kills: crashes involving pedestrians and vehicles were twice as deadly if unsafe speeds were involved.  Jo'burg city officials would be wise to look to this report and understand that this deadly combination of pedestrians + vehicles + unsafe speeds is an everyday occurrence here too.

One of the most interesting conclusions of the report was the financial bottom line: traffic crashes are costing New York City $4.29 billion (yes, billion with a B) a year.  In addition to the lives lost and disabled, there is a real cost that cities pay for emergency services, clean-up and more.  Understanding this toll helps to justify allocating resources for research to conduct local studies to understand the nature of Jo'burg's crashes, education of drivers and pedestrians, and enforcement of traffic laws.  New York should be applauded for conducting this critical research, but more importantly, creating an action plan to address the results and improve the safety of its streets through smarter planning.  Perhaps the greatest lesson of this landmark NYC study is that a city can either spend money averting pedestrian deaths or dealing with the aftermath, and that really isn't a tough decision at all.