A new report says that the number of people who died in traffic accidents in New York City in the first three months of 2022 is the highest since 2014. The report, released by the Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets, says there has been a 44% increase in traffic fatalities in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year, with 59 victims dying in crashes.
Surge in Traffic Accidents
In Brooklyn, it was the deadliest February for pedestrians on record under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative. In February alone, six people died and 249 were injured in Brooklyn, the BK Reader reports. It was in February that 99-year-old Jack Mikulincer, a man who had survived the Holocaust, was killed in a pedestrian accident as he crossed Coleridge Street and Oriental Boulevard at Manhattan Beach in his electric wheelchair.
These surging pedestrian fatality numbers are raising concerns among Brooklyn leaders who now fear that traffic fatalities in 2022 are on track to be even worse than 2021’s record-breaking year. Safety advocates are now demanding that Mayor Eric Adams approve the final budget of $3.1 billion that the City Council has requested to fund the NYC Streets Plan and build more bike and bus lanes.
Speed-Related Crashes Increase
Transportation Alternatives is also asking the city’s Department of Transportation to expedite redesigns of dangerous corridors and 1,000 intersections. In addition, it is asking the state to grant New York City permission to govern its own speed and red light cameras to better enforce drivers.
Speeding drivers are being identified as the main cause of this surge in traffic deaths. New York City has seen an increase in speeding drivers especially since the pandemic began — a trend seen nationwide. The Department of Transportation in January revealed that East New York, East Flatbush, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg and Jamaica, Queens, were the NYC neighborhoods with the highest crash numbers in 2021.
According to the BK Reader, Brooklyn-wide in March, there were 2,817 motor vehicle accidents, compared to 2,706 the same month last year. City data shows 123 cyclists were injured, 239 pedestrians hurt, and three pedestrians killed.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
Injured victims of pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents can seek compensation from at-fault parties for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost wages and benefits, hospitalization, rehabilitation, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc. Families that have lost loved ones in pedestrian accidents can seek compensation for damages such as lost future income, medical and funeral costs, pain and suffering, etc.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident or bicycle accident, or if you have lost a loved one in an auto accident caused by a negligent (careless) driver, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
Pedestrian accident victims and their families should also remember that they can seek compensation for injuries or losses in collisions even if the victim was not walking in a marked crosswalk and even if the driver involved in collision was not charged. Our law firm recovered the full one million dollar insurance policy for a girl who was not in the crosswalk when a motor vehicle hit her.
For over 50 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. Our law firm recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole.
We also obtained $295,000 in compensation for the victim of a bicycle dooring accident (where a car door opens into the path of a bicyclist). Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and/or medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: https://bkreader.com/2022/04/20/report-more-pedestrians-killed-in-traffic-crashes-in-bk-this-year-so-far-in-8-years/