Traffic Violence Touches 70 Percent Of NYers, Study Finds

NEW YORK CITY — Marisol Contla always told her husband Jose Contla to take care as walked and cycled down New York City's streets.

He had to — a hard worker, he was always on the go between his job and John Jay College, where he studied to be a lawyer

On the morning of Feb. 23, Jose woke up early for his job cooking at a family restaurant in Bensonhurst. He kissed Marisol on the forehead and walked into the hallway, pausing.

"He just turned around and smiled,” Marisol said.

It was the last time Marisol saw Jose — a hit-and-run driver struck and killed him as he walked to work. He was 26.

Living through such traffic violence isn't rare for New Yorkers, according to a new study by Transportation Alternatives.

The study found 70 percent of New York City voters know someone who has been injured or killed in a traffic crash. And 30 percent have been injured in a traffic crash themselves, according to the study.

Nearly half of Staten Island respondents — 44 percent — said they have been injured in a traffic crash, the study states. The borough, which has the highest rate of car ownership, also had 88 percent of people who said they knew someone who was injured or killed in a crash.

If personal awareness of traffic violence is overwhelming in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio's much-vaunted effort to increase traffic safety and wipe out deaths — Vision Zero — isn't, the study found. More than half of New Yorkers heard little to nothing about the effort, it found.

“During Mayor de Blasio’s final year in office, after traffic deaths rose for the second year in a row, this poll should be yet another wakeup call for Mayor de Blasio to step up, save lives, and achieve his Vision Zero goals," said Danny Harris, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, in a statement.

Marisol Contla never got to say goodbye to Jose, and she still waits for authorities to charge and arrest the hit-and-run driver who killed him.

But she found help in her grief from Families For Safe Streets, a group for people who lost loved ones to traffic crashes or have been injured themselves.

They reached out to her and gave her comfort.

"It makes me feel like I’m not alone," she said.

Motorists and passengers accounted for 70 traffic deaths in 2020, a year when the streets were largely empty because of the coronavirus pandemic. Those deaths counted 43 in 2019.

There have been at least seven traffic fatalities since the New Year, according to numbers compiled by Transportation Alternatives.

Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets plan a Vision Zero Cities Spring Pop-Up conference from March 4 to 5 that will, in part, address the city's rising traffic deaths.