If you’ve been wondering why it is that Mayor Tall ignited a media firestorm this weekend just because of some bad driving, it stems from the fact that one of his stated goals as mayor is to reduce traffic deaths to zero. It doesn’t help when your security details gets caught driving like drunk angry cabbies, but rather than focus on that, let’s focus on where all of New York’s traffic deaths are happening. Data-driven website I Quant NY took a look at the numbers and found that 23% of them happened in just five neighborhoods last year. Tops in the city? Williamsburg, with eight traffic-related deaths, thanks mostly in part to Broadway.
Williamsburg took the ignominious crown with eight deaths involving either drivers, pedestrians, cyclists or passengers, edging out Canarsie’s seven traffic deaths. The biggest culprit in Williamsburg? Broadway, which had three pedestrian deaths and two driver deaths. Why is Broadway so dangerous? We’d wager it’s because everyone is distracted by the elevated train tracks (people love trains), but we are terrible gamblers.
The data, which came from a combination of NYPD crash numbers and neighborhood data, also found that you aren’t safe on Queens Boulevard or The Bronx’s Grand Concourse. Most importantly, the maps determined that with 60% of all traffic fatalities happening in neighborhoods with just two deaths at most, fixing our epidemic of traffic fatalities is going to take a ton of freaking work.
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i'm surprised the accidents are that far west, and not by those terrible 5+road intersections (e.g., myrtle-broadway)
Here is my very narrow minded opinion - as someone who drives through these areas as a job at all hours of the day, it seems that in Williamsburg/East Williamsburg especially the pedestrians (both hipsters and non-hipsters) have little to no regard for their own safety. I get it, it's NYC - the rules are a bit loose in regard to crossing the street but in these areas especially its very clear that a disproportionate amount of people just cross the street without looking or barrel down the street on their bike.
Spend a day driving around Manhattan and Williamsburg and you'll see a dramatic difference in how people treat traffic laws outside of a car. People get hurt in areas where they are less careful. I'm honestly not shocked.