NYC Motorists Injured 1,117 People Walking and Biking in March, and Killed 10

Sixteen people died in New York City traffic in March, and 4,490 were injured, according to City Hall’s Vision Zero View crash data map.

City Hall has reported 28 people killed by motorists while walking or biking this year, and 3,363 injured, compared to 31 deaths and 3,499 injuries in the first three months of 2017.

Six motor vehicle occupants died in the city in March, according to City Hall, and 3,373 were injured.

Ten pedestrians were fatally struck by drivers last month. Among the victims were Troy Williams, Joshua Lew, Abigail Blumenstein, Elise Hellinger, Lucille Raphael, Wally Dominguez, and an unnamed man in Brooklyn.

City Hall reported no cyclist fatalities in March.

Motorists killed at least two children and one senior: Joshua Lew, 1; Abigail Blumenstein, 4; and Lucille Raphael, 75. Traffic crashes consistently rank as the leading cause of injury related death for city children. Seniors in NYC are disproportionately vulnerable to traffic violence compared to people in other age groups.

Across the city, 897 pedestrians and 220 cyclists were reported hurt in collisions with motor vehicles. Per NYPD policy that has not changed since the 2014 launch of the Vision Zero program, few of these crashes were investigated by trained officers.

Of seven fatal crashes on surface streets reported by Streetsblog and other outlets, no motorists were known to have been charged for causing a death.

In two cases, though available information suggests victims were killed while following traffic rules, NYPD declined to file charges under the city’s Right of Way Law.

Joshua Lew and Abigail Blumenstein were struck by Dorothy Bruns, who drove her Volvo though a red light into a crowded crosswalk. Bruns also injured the children’s mothers and a fifth pedestrian. NYPD made excuses for Bruns in the press, and police and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez filed no charges.

A school bus driver struck Elise Hellinger while turning into a crosswalk in Kew Gardens. NYPD indicated Hellinger was crossing the street lawfully but filed no charges.

The Brooklyn driver who killed Lucille Raphael also hit several parked cars. NYPD parroted the driver’s version of events, telling the media a “vehicle malfunction” caused the crash, and filed no charges.

Wally Dominguez, Troy Williams, and the unnamed Brooklyn pedestrian were struck by drivers who fled the scene. Police identified a suspect in the Dominguez case, but there are no reports or court records indicating an arrest. The rampaging motorist who hit the unnamed pedestrian was soon after shot and killed by police. The driver who struck Troy Williams was not immediately caught or identified. The majority of hit-and-run drivers who strike people in NYC are not held accountable in any way.