doc6 Months of Vision Zero Enforcement Report Card 2014
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6 Months of Vision Zero Enforcement Report Card 2014
Transportation Alternatives 127 West 26th Street, Suite 1002 New York, NY 10001 Report Card: Six Months of Vision Zero Traffic Enforcement Despite two decades of steady declines, traffic fatalities remain an epidemic in New York City. More people are killed in traffic than are murdered by guns; traffic crashes are the foremost cause of preventable death for New York City children and, after falls, the primary cause of injury-related death for older New Yorkers. In February 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio launched a Vision Zero initiative – with the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries in New York City by 2024 – which the New York Police Department embraced wholeheartedly, instructing all precinct commanders to increase enforcement of the most dangerous traffic violations. Increased enforcement remains a central element to achieving Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero goal. Transportation Alternatives’ Report Card: Six Months of Vision Zero Traffic Enforcement reveals that citywide enforcement of the most dangerous traffic violations – speeding and failure to yield to pedestrians – has skyrocketed in the past year. Comparing the first six months of 2014 to the same period of 2013, summonses for speeding increased by 32 percent and summonses for failure to yield increased by 153 percent, an effort which has saved countless New Yorkers from death and injury. However, according to T.A. research and analysis, the widespread effort to expand enforcement of the most dangerous violations does not extend to every NYPD precinct. In fact, wide disparities exist between the heroic efforts of NYPD precincts that have increased their enforcement of the most dangerous violations and adjacent precincts where summonsing has actually decreased. In order to create more consistency across precincts, T.A. recommends that the NYPD establish an executive officer in each Borough Command who would be solely dedicated to coordinating traffic enforcement. THE PROBLEM Speeding is the leading cause of traffic fatalities in New York City. Drivers who fail to yield are the leading cause of injury to pedestrians. 1 The majority of these traffic crashes are caused by drivers making dangerous choices 2 and committing enforceable moving violations. 3 T.A.’s Mid-Year Report Card found that overall summonsing for speeding and failure to yield has markedly increased, but there are stark disparities in the level of enforcement between individual precincts. Some precincts have made great strides to deter drivers from dangerous behavior, buoying citywide numbers, while others issued fewer summonses than the prior year. Most strikingly, T.A.’s investigation found a disparity among neighboring precincts. Adjacent precincts have similar street designs and traffic conditions, but in many cases, these precincts dramatically differ in enforcement efforts (See Images 1 and 2). Here are some examples: • In Harlem, the 26th Precinct nearly doubled the number of speeding summonses issued from last year (294 to 533), while the adjacent 30th Precinct in Washington Heights issued half as many summonses as they did the prior year. • Along Queens Boulevard, the 110th Precinct wrote 860 failure to yield summonses so far this year, whereas the adjacent 108th precinct issued half as many. This inconsistency is stark enough to undermine positive enforcement efforts. Varying levels of enforcement reinforce the mentality that a driver can “get away with it”. Every violation that goes unenforced is implicit encouragement for drivers to commit the violation again. Image 1: Map of the most improved and least improved precincts in each Borough Command for speeding summonses, January to June 2013 versus 2014. Image 2: Map of the most improved and least improved precincts in each Borough Command for failure to yield summonses, January to June 2013 versus 2014. RECOMMENDATIONS Drivers who have received a summons are less likely to kill or seriously injure someone in the future. 4 This is why NYPD enforcement is critical to reaching Vision Zero. While continuing to increase enforcement of the most dangerous violations is an important first step, consistent enforcement of these deadly behaviors is paramount. In order to more effectively deter drivers from dangerous behavior, the NYPD must coordinate enforcement citywide so the likelihood of punishment for reckless driving is consistent no matter where a driver is in the city. T.A. recommends that the NYPD: 1. Create an executive officer for each Borough Command: This position should report to the NYPD Chief of Transportation and have sole responsibility for coordinating traffic operations. Having a central person in charge of traffic safety for each Borough Command would help coordinate precincts’ enforcement efforts and make the greatest impact despite strained resources. 2. Educate police officers about the lifesaving impact of Vision Zero enforcement operations: The NYPD should regularly invite New Yorkers affected by traffic crashes to speak at precinct roll-calls or share their stories at TrafficStat to underscore the importance of simple summonsing. Writing traffic tickets to reckless drivers is often a thankless task—officers face annoyed drivers but rarely meet the person they saved from being hit. Helping officers see who is impacted by dangerous traffic conditions will send a message that their summonses are important and valued by New Yorkers. 3. Emphasize the most dangerous violations in each Borough Command: The NYPD should highlight the most dangerous violations in police officers’ summons books with insert cards that reference traffic violations that commonly lead to serious injury and death. Violations should be defined by the dangers of each Borough Command and these summonses should be tracked at every TrafficStat meeting. THE BEST & THE WORST When compared to their peers within the same borough command, these are the most and least effectual NYPD precincts: MANHATTAN SOUTH BEST WORST BEST WORST BEST WORST Speeding – 1st Precinct Failure to Yield – 14th Precinct MANHATTAN NORTH Speeding – 26th Precinct Failure to Yield - 24th Precinct BRONX Speeding – 52nd Precinct Failure to Yield – 40th Precinct BROOKLYN SOUTH BEST th Speeding – 67 Precinct Failure to Yield- 70th Precicnt BROOKLYN NORTH Speeding – 42nd Precinct Failure to Yield – 47th Precinct WORST Speeding – 76th Precinct Failure to Yield – 76th Precinct WORST BEST WORST BEST WORST Speeding – 105th Precinct Failure to Yield – 103rd Precinct QUEENS NORTH Speeding – 30th Precinct Failure to Yield – 20th Precinct BEST Speeding – 81st Precinct Failure to Yield – 77th Precinct QUEENS SOUTH Speeding – 13th Precinct Failure to Yield – 10th Precinct Speeding – 110th Precinct Failure to Yield – 110th Precinct Speeding – 83rd Precinct Failure to Yield – 73rd Precinct Speeding – 103rd and 106th Precincts tied Failure to Yield – 100th Precinct Speeding – 109th Precinct Failure to Yield – 108th Precinct STATEN ISLAND The 121st Precinct was created in November 2013 out of areas that were the 120th and 122nd. This makes comparison from last year to this year difficult for the whole borough. Combined, the 120th, 121st and 122nd Precincts increased speeding summonses 85 percent from last year, while the 123rd increased speeding summonses by 87 percent. The 120th, 121st and 122nd increased failure to yield summonses 264 percent, and the 123rd increased 300 percent. ALL BOROUGH COMMANDS Finally, rising above and beyond the other borough commands, the Bronx had the largest increase in failure to yield summonses (a 421 percent increase from last year), while Queens South had the largest increase in speeding (a 105 percent increase). METHODOLOGY In early 2014, Transportation Alternatives sent a letter to every NYPD precinct, alerting them that they would be evaluated on their performance enforcing the most dangerous traffic violations throughout the year. This evaluation, which will conclude in early 2015, will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the NYPD’s performance during the first year of Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero plan. This mid-year report card evaluates how individual precincts have performed from January to June 2014 in summonsing the most dangerous traffic violations (speeding and failure to yield) when compared to last year and compared to their peers. The NYPD’s 76 precincts are grouped into eight Patrol Borough Commands: Manhattan North, Manhattan South, Brooklyn North, Brooklyn South, Queens North, Queens South, Bronx and Staten Island. Patrol Borough Commands group precincts into geographic areas; precincts in the same Borough Command have a more similar makeup when compared to others around the city, which facilitates a more accurate comparison between the precincts therein. By comparing precincts’ improvement (or failure to improve) in summonsing to the average improvement among precincts in their borough command, a clear picture arises of the best and the worst enforcers in the city. APPENDIX The number of speeding and failure to yield (FTY) summonses issued by precinct, January to June 2013 versus 2014 : Patrol Borough: Manhattan South 213 Jan - June 2014 Jan - June # Change Speeding 41 86 45 FTY 93 218 125 Speeding 42 74 32 FTY 109 94 -15 Speeding 30 40 10 FTY 56 345 289 Speeding 19 57 38 FTY 122 147 25 Speeding 10 22 12 FTY 113 123 10 Speeding 30 36 6 FTY 82 62 -20 Speeding 49 46 -3 FTY 102 204 102 5 27 22 513 874 361 Speeding 17 57 40 FTY 74 295 221 Midtown North (18th) Speeding 9 29 20 FTY 56 120 64 Average (Median) Speeding 25 43 19 FTY 98 176 78 1st 5th 6th 7th 9th 10th 13th Midtown South (14th) 17th Speeding FTY Patrol Borough: Bronx 40th 41st 42nd 43rd 44th 45th 46th 47th 48th 49th 50th 52nd Average (Median) 2013 Jan - June 2014 Jan - June # Change 336 476 140 96 298 202 236 322 86 12 195 183 Speeding 138 173 35 FTY 48 118 70 Speeding 98 264 166 FTY 30 151 121 Speeding 126 427 301 FTY 16 115 99 104 141 37 7 98 91 Speeding 98 363 265 FTY 33 199 166 Speeding 116 204 88 FTY 45 100 55 823 976 153 FTY 14 100 86 Speeding 63 162 99 8 114 106 Speeding 84 188 104 FTY 20 164 144 Speeding 72 494 422 7 98 91 Speeding 110 293 183 FTY 18 117 99 Speeding FTY Speeding FTY Speeding FTY Speeding FTY FTY Patrol Borough: Brooklyn South 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 66th 67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd 76th 78th Average (Median) 2013 2014 Jan - June Jan - June # Change Speeding 145 254 109 FTY 60 133 73 Speeding 107 182 75 FTY 171 211 40 Speeding 88 161 73 FTY 113 223 110 Speeding 42 91 49 FTY 26 78 52 Speeding 116 158 42 FTY 170 171 1 Speeding 78 362 284 FTY 55 206 151 Speeding 148 289 141 FTY 167 430 263 Speeding 192 218 26 FTY 38 69 31 Speeding 107 224 117 FTY 128 696 568 Speeding 64 180 116 FTY 112 375 263 Speeding 123 213 90 FTY 89 192 103 Speeding 85 94 9 FTY 111 88 -23 Speeding 93 206 113 FTY 43 176 133 Speeding 107 206 99 FTY 111 192 81 Patrol Borough: Brooklyn North 73rd 75th 77th 79th 81st 83rd 84th 88th 90th 94th Average (Median) 2013 2014 Jan - June Jan - June # Change Speeding 107 283 176 FTY 139 145 6 Speeding 53 212 159 FTY 25 184 159 346 477 131 4 170 166 Speeding 162 298 136 FTY 30 143 113 Speeding 113 316 203 FTY 11 144 133 Speeding 14 28 14 FTY 31 95 64 Speeding 23 96 73 FTY 46 211 165 Speeding 29 102 73 2 36 34 Speeding 141 171 30 FTY 14 126 112 336 448 112 5 72 67 Speeding 110 248 138 FTY 20 144 124 Speeding FTY FTY Speeding FTY Patrol Borough: Queens South 100th 101st 102nd 103rd 105th 106th 107th 113th 2013 2014 # Change Jan - June Jan - June Speeding 85 211 126 FTY 21 27 6 Speeding 141 268 127 FTY 31 83 52 Speeding 88 194 106 FTY 134 216 82 Speeding 64 133 69 FTY 163 451 288 Speeding 159 330 171 FTY 53 121 68 Speeding 109 178 69 FTY 67 139 72 Speeding 164 277 113 FTY 55 80 25 Speeding 55 186 131 7 88 81 99 203 104 54 105 51 FTY Average (Me- Speeding dian) FTY Patrol Borough: Queens North 104th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 114th 115th Average (Median) 2013 2014 Jan - June Jan - June # Change Speeding 79 258 179 FTY 113 233 120 Speeding 234 273 39 FTY 196 237 41 Speeding 408 322 -86 FTY 253 480 227 Speeding 1637 1893 256 FTY 252 860 608 Speeding 70 294 224 FTY 60 149 89 Speeding 190 286 96 FTY 99 589 490 Speeding 245 346 101 FTY 131 175 44 Speeding 98 149 51 FTY 242 341 99 Speeding 212 290 78 FTY 164 289 126 Patrol Borough: Staten Island 120th 121st** 122nd North SI (120, 121, 122 combined) 123rd Average (Median) Speeding 2013 Jan - June 2014 # Change Jan - June 696 487 -209 FTY 70 204 134 Speeding NA 499 NA FTY NA 74 NA Speeding 459 1150 691 22 56 34 1155 2136 981 FTY 92 334 242 Speeding 610 1142 532 2 8 6 Speeding 610 821 211 FTY 22 65 43 FTY Speeding FTY ** The 121st precinct was created in November 2013 so comparison for the first 6 months of each year is not possible. REFERENCES 1 New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. (2009). Summary of New York City Motor Vehicle Accidents, 2009. http://dmv.ny.gov/sites/default/files/legacy_files/statistics/2009nycsummary.pdf 2 City of New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio. (2014). Vision Zero Action Plan. http://www.nyc.gov/html/visionzero/pdf/nycvision-zero-action-plan.pdf 3 Transportation Alternatives. (2012). Deadly Driving Unlimited: How the NYPD Lets Dangerous Drivers Run Wild. http://transalt.org/files/news/reports/2012/Deadly_Driving_Unlimited_Report.pdf 4 Redelmeier, Donald et al. “Traffic-law enforcement and risk of death from motor-vehicle crashes: case-crossover study,” Science Direct (June 28, 2003): http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673603137701.
