Overall Traffic Deaths Down, Bike Fatalities Flat in 2011

Mayor Michael Bloomberg touted new numbers showing a marked decline in the number of traffic fatalities at a press conference held near Grand Army Plaza at the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library on Thursday afternoon.

So far in 2011, there were 237 traffic deaths across the five boroughs—a 12.5 percent drop from a year ago and a 39 percent drop since 2001.

"We've made progress in every area of traffic safety due to our willingness to take new, creative approaches to longstanding challenges with safety redesigns and through aggressive traffic enforcement," Bloomberg said.

Grand Army Plaza, the backdrop of today's press conference, saw a drop of 40 percent in crashes since completed in 2007 transformed the once-notoriously dangerous intersection, according to city Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

Pedestrian injuries, particularly those involving seniors, experienced an annual decline of 12 percent from 152 fatalities to 134 so far this year.

Bloomberg, joined at the press event by Sadik-Khan and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, attributed the steep declines to a combination of education, engineering and enforcement initiatives.

"It shows that smart government policies can make a difference," Bloomberg said. 

However, the city's bicycle fatality figures presented a more murky picture.

Year-to-year, bicycle fatalities remained flat, with 21 deaths occurring thus far in 2011.

That list includes Canadian artist Mathieu Lefevre, who was struck and killed by a truck in Williamsburg earlier this year. Though the driver in that incident did not immediately stop, he did not receive a ticket and was not charged by police.

Last month, bike advocates joined members of the Lefevre family to criticize the police's handling of the case.

“We want NYPD to take the time it needs to conduct an unbiased, thorough, professional investigation," said the victim's mother, Erika Lefevre, at the rally. "But NYPD has caused us great pain with their mishandling and withholding of information and their rush to clear the driver of any wrongdoing.”

At today's press conference, Kelly stood with Officer James Tuller, chief of the agency investigating bicycle fatalities, to defend his department's handling of the Lefevre matter and similar cases.

"There is a difference between negligence and criminal negligence," Kelly said. "Every one of these cases is made in consultation with the District Attorney. It is not a unilateral decision by the police department."

Bike advocates saw the issue differently.

"There seems to be a disturbingly low standard of acceptable behavior for drivers rather than a proper recognition of their responsibility to exercise due care on our streets," said a spokesman for Transportation Alternatives, which helped the Lefevre family organize the rally in front of One Police Plaza in Lower Manhattan.

As for the issue of bike lanes, including the , city officials insisted that the fact that bike fatalities had plateaued was not an argument against the traffic measures.

"Anytime you put in a bike lane ... you see a decline in fatalities for all users," Bloomberg said.

Instead, Bloomberg framed the less-than-stellar bicycle safety numbers in terms of an increase in popularity, with the number of cyclists citywide quadrupling since 2001—meaning that per capita, bicycle fatalities were actually markedly down from a decade ago. 

"The number [of cyclists] has skyrocketed," he said.