KEEPING TABS ON PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENTS

By Dan Rivoli

New Yorkers can find out how many robberies have occurred in their community—even how many times their neighbors have called 311 and get the reason for the complaint. But they cannot find out how many pedestrians are hurt in their streets.

Council Member Jessica Lappin introduced a bill that would require the New York City Police Department to keep and post statistics on pedestrian and traffic accidents, summonses and tickets on its website, much like the CompStat reports for crime.

“It’d be nice to know where accidents are occurring and use that information to plan accordingly,” Lappin said. “If we can figure out which intersections are dangerous, we can figure out how to make them better.”

The bill came out of a report by Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit group that advocates for better mass transit, bicycling and pedestrian safety. Up-to-date numbers are not kept, though the Department of Transportation keeps yearly figures.

Wiley Norvell, the spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives, praised the bill, saying the basic details of pedestrian accidents should be offered to the public.

“Lappin’s bill is going to shed a lot of light on something New Yorkers really want to know, which is what streets are the most dangerous and what factors are contributing to these accidents,” Norvell said.

The legislation is currently in the Council’s Public Safety Committee.

Tweet This Post