On behalf of Smiley & Smiley, LLP posted in Car Accidents on Friday, March 7, 2014.
Back in January, we wrote about an announcement that Mayor Bill de Blasio had made concerning traffic fatalities in New York City. We mentioned that de Blasio planned to make eliminating fatalities resulting from motor vehicle accidents a central focus of his administration. A few weeks ago, the mayor unveiled numerous proposals aimed at achieving this lofty goal.
The mayor’s administration has modeled its traffic fatality elimination plan on Vision Zero, which is an approach that has been adopted by the Swedish government. This legal body is similarly seeking to eliminate traffic fatalities by preventing devastating accidents in the first place. The administration has pledged significant resources, including political capital and law enforcement participation, in advancement of this vision.
Among the proposals unveiled by the mayor are lowering NYC’s speed limit and widening parking lanes to cut down on the number of delivery vehicles that tend to jut out into travel lanes while temporarily stopped. More ingenious proposals include pausing the meters of taxicabs if drivers exceed the posted speed limit in any given area.
It is unclear whether the majority of these proposals will be embraced and it is also unclear whether these proposals will truly prevent the majority of fatal accidents if they are passed and implemented. However, the fact that the mayor is making NYC traffic safety a priority is certainly a welcome step. Hopefully, the mayor’s administration will continue to push the boundaries of current safety measures and create additional effective measures in order to keep the city’s travelers safe.
Source: New York Times, “De Blasio Outlines Steps to Eliminate Traffic Deaths,” Matt Flegenheimer, Feb. 18, 2014
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