Courtesy of DOT
According to the City, the earlier onset of darkness in the fall and winter is highly correlated to an increase in traffic injuries and fatalities.
By Forum Staff
As Daylight Saving Time came to an end and clocks fell back last weekend, Mayor Bill de Blasio reminded pedestrians of the dangers of dusk and evenings on city streets.
De Blasio last Friday also emphasized his administration’s new Vision Zero Dusk and Darkness initiative that includes stepped-up Police Department enforcement against unsafe driving between the hours of 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., supplemented by the addition of new street lighting to high-crash crosswalks, an educational awareness campaign, and street redesigns.
According to the City, fall and winter evenings have traditionally been the most perilous time of year for pedestrians, with serious crashes during that time increasing by 40 percent compared to the rest of the year.
“The NYPD is working with our partners to increase pedestrian safety, especially after the Daylight Saving Time change – when the sunset is earlier in the day and coincides with the evening rush,” said NYPD Commissioner Jim O’Neill. “New York is a fast-paced city, but I want to ask all New Yorkers – especially motorists – to slow down and look out for one another. Officers will be issuing summonses to those who don’t.”
The City Department of Transportation conducted comprehensive seasonal fatalities analysis of year-over-year crash trends and found that:
- The earlier onset of darkness in the fall and winter is highly correlated to an increase in traffic injuries and fatalities.
- Lower visibility during the dark hours of the colder months leads to twice as many crashes involving turns.
- In 2015, the year with the fewest traffic fatalities in the city’s recorded history, 40 percent of the year’s pedestrian fatalities occurred after Oct. 1.
- Daylight Saving Time ended last year on Nov. 1; in the eight days following last year’s “fall-back” clock change, nine city pedestrians lost their lives – one of the deadliest periods of the entire year. All of the victims were between 55 and 88 years old, and only three of the deaths occurred during daylight hours.
Additionally, the administration indicated that the following are the Vision Zero multi-agency initiatives being pursued over the next few months:
- Increased Evening/ Nighttime Enforcement: NYPD will focus additional enforcement resources on the most hazardous violations (speeding and failure-to-yield to pedestrians), with precincts augmenting their on-street presence around sunset hours when data show serious pedestrian crashes increase.
- Focus on Priority Locations: NYPD will deploy additional Traffic Safety personnel to provide coverage at intersections and corridors with high rates of pedestrian injuries and fatal crashes during key dusk and darkness hours.
- Focused Initiatives Cracking Down on Dangerous Driving Behaviors: In October, November and December the NYPD will launch a series of initiatives to promote concentrated enforcement on speeding, cell phone/texting, failure to yield to pedestrians, blocked bicycle lanes, and other hazardous violations.
- Drunk or Impaired Driving: NYPD will also focus resources on drunk-driving efforts, as the evening and nighttime hours in the fall and winter have historically been when the incidence of DWI also increases.
