Forum Photo by Michael V. Cusenza
According to the administration, Warm Weather Weekends focuses on the correlation between rising temperatures and a springtime weekend surge in traffic crashes.
By Forum Staff
The City Police and Transportation departments recently kicked off a new Vision Zero enforcement campaign aimed at motorists and motorcyclists that focuses on the correlation between rising temperatures and a springtime weekend surge in traffic crashes, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Administration officials cite a single day—Saturday, April 29, 2017—as the spark that helped to create Vision Zero Warm Weather Weekends. In a year that was the overall safest-ever on city streets, those 24 hours were the second deadliest of 2017. The first warm weekend day at the end of an unusually cool month, officials noted that April 29, 2017, was sunny with a high temperature of 87 degrees. In a number of different serious crashes around NYC that day, many of which involved speeding, four New Yorkers lost their lives and 204 were injured.
The Department of Transportation then conducted a detailed analysis of traffic fatalities and severe injuries from 2007 to 2016, observing the rate of traffic deaths and serious injuries on warmer days in March through June. Comparing crash data to weather records, DOT studied days where temperatures were 60 degrees or higher, and uncovered these trends:
• The average number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) in traffic crashes on weekends starts to rise in March and peaks during June. In April, the weekend KSI rate is 28 percent higher than in January/February.
• The danger in the spring is most pronounced for motor-vehicle occupants and motorcyclists: On warm weather Saturdays and Sundays in April, the KSI rate for drivers and car occupants is 41 percent higher than the winter weekend rate; for motorcyclists, the KSI danger on weekends rises by an eye-opening 88 percent.
• Data appear to show that higher KSI rates on warmer spring days are limited to Saturdays and Sundays. On weekdays, DOT data show that the average number of KSI annually during April warm weather weekdays is only 4 percent higher than the January/February winter weekday rate.
“We know from past years’ experience that on warm weather weekends we see far too many tragedies on our roads, especially among motorists and motorcyclists,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.
In response to the data, NYPD and DOT last weekend initiated season-specific efforts to deter reckless behavior to keep all New Yorkers safe. Officers and City staffers reminded drivers that they should continue to obey the speed limit, slow down, turn slowly and yield to pedestrians.
“NYPD officers will be out in force on weekends to combat the behaviors most associated with traffic tragedies,” said NYPD Transportation Chief Thomas Chan. “It is unfortunate we see upticks in dangerous driving behavior during these long-awaited warm weather weekends, especially in the form of reckless motorcycle driving. Our goal is to ensure everyone enjoys these weekends and returns home safely. That will be our measure of success.”
Mayor de Blasio said that nicer weather is no excuse for dangerous driving.
“The NYPD will be out in force to ensure you do not travel at speeds that endanger you and your fellow New Yorkers,” he warned.
