New York cyclist deaths suddenly jump
"Deaths related to bicycle crashes rose last year to 18, up from 12 in 2009, despite the installation of hundreds of miles of bicycle lanes throughout the city," The New York Times says in an article (available here) about traffic deaths in New York City.
The finding will likely disappoint those who had hoped that a series of traffic initiatives implemented by Mayor Bloomberg's administration would bring the the death rate steadily downward.
Whether last year's 50 percent jump in cyclist deaths is a fluke is unclear. "The increase may be related to a rise in the number of regular cyclists in the city since the Bloomberg administration began a concerted effort to encourage bipedal commuting," The Times speculated. The paper noted that the number of cyclist deaths in 2010 was "still lower than the 2008 total of 26 bicycle-related fatalities recorded."
"The city’s traffic fatality rate remains among the lowest in the country, holding steady around a quarter of the national rate," the paper pointed out.
“We have come a long way on safety,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, the city’s transportation commissioner, who, The Times noted, has worked to counter unsafe driving through measures that have included creating pedestrian plazas, revamping traffic signals and initiating advertising campaigns against speeding. Hundreds of miles of bike lanes have been established to make cycling safer and more comfortable.
The Times also said:
"Deaths of pedestrians declined slightly in 2010, to 151 from 156 in 2009. The city recorded 21 percent fewer pedestrian fatalities last year than in 2001."
"In an attempt to reduce crashes that occur at crosswalks, the Transportation Department plans to remove some curbside parking spaces adjacent to intersections along major Manhattan avenues. The program focuses on avenues that have had high rates of accidents involving left-hand turns, but the city declined to identify which avenues would lose parking spots."
"The last two years have had the lowest numbers of traffic deaths since the city began keeping records about a century ago, according to Transportation Department statistics."
"The city recorded 269 traffic deaths in 2010, a 5 percent increase from the year before, when fatalities reached a record low."
Motorcyclist fatalities rose by 34 percent last year, and accounted for 14 percent of the city's total traffic deaths, even though motorcycles made up only 2 percent of the city's registered vehicles. Motorcyclists are known for taking risks on the roads, but there was no explanation for why the motorcyclist death rate should have shot up last year.
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Where?
It would be interesting to know where these deaths are happening. Are they happening on streets with or without bike infrastructure? Are they happening in the new separated bike lanes?
Fatal locations
Good question. One of the best advocacy groups for bicyclists in New York is Transportation Alternatives. I called Noah Budnick at TA and asked him where the cyclist deaths in New York in 2010 occurred. He replied that the city Department of Transportation issued a map of 2010 fatalities, but unfortunately the map didn't indicate whether any particular fatality was a cyclist, a pedestrian, or a motorist. In other words, TA doesn't know the locations and conditions of cyclist deaths in 2010.
Budnick says that in any event, bike fatality statistics vary too much from one year to another to draw conclusions from any one year's figures. So in his view, there's no reason to think that the 50 percent jump in cyclists deaths in 2010 was meaningful. He says usually the number of bike deaths in a year in New York ranges between 15 and 25.
Transportation Alternatives thinks a more useful figure is fatalities and serious injuries combined. He says that total has been declining — an encouraging trend. He reports that historically, there have been more biking fatalities on bigger streets which also lack bike lanes. Arterials make up 10 percent of the city's street mileage, but account for more than half the biking deaths, he says. He also notes that 90 percent of crashes involving cyclists occur at or near intersections.
For understanding the long-term trends, he recommends looking at Bicyclist Fatalities and Serious Injuries in New York City, 1996-2005, a joint report from the New York City Departments of Health and Mental Hygiene, Parks and Recreation, Transportation, and the New York City Police Department, which you can download here as a pdf.