NYC Vision Zero Under Scrutiny As Fatal Crashes Hit Records

NEW YORK CITY — Frustrations overflowed in a City Council hearing on Mayor Bill de Blasio's "Vision Zero" plan as traffic deaths continued to plague the city and critics accused the mayor of inaction.

Crashes have claimed the lives of 233 people on New York City's streets this year — a number that puts the city on pace to break a record for most traffic deaths during de Blasio's terms in office.

It's a far cry from the zero traffic death goal outlined in the Vision Zero plan's name.

Council members Tuesday quizzed transportation officials over ways to strengthen Vision Zero. Officials still seem to be reactive rather than proactive, said Council Member Vanessa Gibson.

"If we say Vision Zero, then we need to mean actually getting to zero and nothing more than just zero," she said.

De Blasio has touted Vision Zero as a way to make the city's streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike.

Advocates agree that Vision Zero can work, but argue de Blasio's administration continues to take necessary steps to strengthen it.

“Every Monday, we wake up to the tragic news of another deadly weekend of preventable crashes on our streets," said Danny Harris, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, in a statement. "This weekend it was a child killed by an SUV. Multiple hit-and-runs. The second pedestrian killed on Atlantic Avenue in only two weeks. As a record number of New Yorkers are killed on Mayor de Blasio’s streets, our mayor refuses to treat rising traffic violence like the public health epidemic that it is.”

Council members appeared broadly agree that more should be done to strengthen Vision Zero. Ydanis Rodriguez, who chairs the Council's transportation commitee, argued the city should advocate for greater leeway to change street safety laws.

He pointed at ways to change crosswalk signals as a way to prioritize people over vehicles. Declaring a crisis at intersections can help increase funding, he said.

“This is something that we definitely need to rethink Vision Zero,” he said.

About 50 percent of all fatal crashes every year happen at intersections, said Julie Kite-Laidlaw, the transportation department's director of strategic initiatives.

Gibson also pressed officials on NYPD officers apparently failing to follow up on — or outright falsifying — 311 complaints about traffic issues and placard abuse.