#NYC traffic deaths spike in 2020 despite fewer cars on the road

Traffic fatalities in New York City have spiked this year — despite a drop in the number of cars on the road due to the pandemic.

One hundred and seventy-five people have died on city roads as of Sunday, up from 169 the same time last year, according data from the city Department of Transportation.

Motorcycle and car deaths are driving the surge, the numbers show: In 2020, 38 motorcyclists and 50 car occupants have died in city crashes, compared to 22 and 37, respectively, the same time last year.

There have only been four fewer cyclist fatalities than this time last year — after the death of Brooklyn nurse Clara Kang, 31, over the weekend.

As of Oct. 4, 2019, 23 cyclists had been killed in crashes on the way to 28 total deaths for the year, the highest cyclist death toll in two decades.

The carnage has occurred despite a precipitous drop in traffic during the height of the city’s COVID-19 lockdown, and in the months since.

Road safety expert Matt Carmody said wide outer-borough streets such as Third Avenue, where Kang died, were prone to dangerous speeding even before the pandemic — and the drop in driving has made the problem worse.

“Fatalities went up because there was not the usual congestion, and people were able to drive much faster,” he said.

“When you drive much faster in a city, the streets aren’t designed for you to go more than 10 or 15 miles above the speed limit. There’s not a lot of room for error.”

National stats released by the federal government last week tell a similar story: Despite a 16.6 percent decline in vehicle miles traveled nationwide in the first six months of 2020, pedestrian fatalities dropped just two percent, the Governors Highway Safety Association reported.

“Far too many drivers saw open roads as an invitation to engage in risky behaviors like speeding, driving under the influence and driving unrestrained,” GHSA director Jonathan Adkins said.

Danny Harris, director of the NYC bike and pedestrian group Transportation Alternatives, blamed the spike on Mayor Bill de Blasio, who he accused of disregarding the work of a panel formed in May to advise him on transportation issues.

“The carnage on our streets continues unabated. Not only has the mayor ignored the recommendations of his Surface Transportation Advisory Council to address this, he’s slashed the budget for Vision Zero,” Harris said, referring to de Blasio’s floundering, 6-year-old imitative to cut citywide traffic deaths to zero.

“We’re finding ourselves at vigil after vigil when we should be going to groundbreakings for new safe streets infrastructure,” Harris said.