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Woo! Brooklyn’s number one…at death by automobile

Juuuust like that. via Flickr user ronbrinkmann
Juuuust like that. via Flickr user ronbrinkmann

We’ve gone over the fact that Brooklyn is maybe not the safest place in the world when it comes to cars. But hey, that was just anecdotal. Where’s the actual proof that you risk your life every time you step off the sidewalk or even get in a car around here? How about a study by Transportation Alternatives that found that Brooklyn had the most deaths by cars, 79, in New York City in all of 2011?

TheĀ Post shares the grim news of our home borough beating out Queens by 12 traffic deaths to go along with 23,000 traffic injuries in 2011. For the most part, the cause seems to be speeding and a lack of enforcement around it, since according to TA’s study, 88 percent of the drivers in Brooklyn break the speed limit, but the NYPD only gave out 2,028 speeding tickets. Almost every single driver passing Flatlands Avenue and 107th Street were found to be speeding, and some lunatic in Williamsburg was clocked going 60mph through Kent Avenue and Rodney Street. Clearly the all-powerful bike lobby isn’t doing its job.

The solution, according to Transportation Alternatives and State Senator Daniel Squadron, is speed cameras around some of the dicier driving areas in Brooklyn, to keep people honest when the police aren’t around. In the meantime, we suggest walking around with a helmet and a full bubble wrap suit, just to be safe.

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