NYPD Crash Investigations
Streetsblog Basics
How NYPD’s Opaque Crash Investigations Spoil Its Street Safety Message
Last month, the Upper East Side's 19th Precinct devoted two full pages to traffic safety in its inaugural monthly newsletter. In an echo of Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, who claimed at the initial Vision Zero press conference that 73 percent of crashes injuring pedestrians are the victim's fault, it featured an eyebrow-raising statistic that blames four of the five Upper East Side pedestrian fatalities in 2013 on the dead victims. But that's a misleading way to characterize the cause of most pedestrian deaths, and given NYPD's track record of rushing to blame victims in its crash investigations, it may not even be an accurate depiction of these five Upper East Side deaths.
February 6, 2014
Council Overrides Bloomberg Veto of NYPD Hit-and-Run Transparency Bill
The City Council today voted to override a number of vetoes handed down by former Mayor Bloomberg. According to the Staten Island Advance, among the bills passed was Intro 1055, which requires NYPD to release information on hit-and-run crashes and investigations.
February 4, 2014
First Up for Ydanis Rodriguez: Override of NYPD Hit-and-Run Data Veto
Today's transportation committee meeting, the first chaired by Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, was short and sweet. The new chair opened with a statement outlining his goals for the 13-member committee, which minutes later unanimously passed an override of Mayor Bloomberg's veto of a bill that would give the council more information about NYPD's hit-and-run investigations.
January 29, 2014
Bratton’s Bad Data on Pedestrian Injuries Won’t Get Us to Vision Zero
Yesterday NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said that in 73 percent of crashes in which a pedestrian was struck by a motorist in 2013, the pedestrian was at fault. Bratton presented that figure as an indictment of pedestrian behavior, and the stat was later parroted by the press. But more than anything it speaks to the victim-blaming bias that permeates NYPD traffic enforcement and crash investigations -- a major obstacle Bratton will have to overcome to implement Vision Zero.
January 16, 2014
9-Year-Old Boy, Mother, and Senior Killed in Weekend of Motorist Violence
Three pedestrians were fatally struck by motorists over the weekend, bringing to seven the number of people killed while walking in New York City in the first two weeks of 2014.
January 13, 2014
Koo Will Try Override After Bloomberg Vetoes NYPD Hit-and-Run Bill
As one of his last acts in office, Mayor Michael Bloomberg vetoed a bill that would have required NYPD to report to the City Council and the public on hit-and-run crashes. With lead sponsor Leroy Comrie also gone from City Hall, Council Member Peter Koo plans to marshal an effort to override the veto.
January 7, 2014
Hit-and-Run Driver Not Charged in Death of Queens Pedestrian Mosa Khatun
A hit-and-run driver who fatally struck a woman in Jamaica last night will not be charged with a crime, according to NYPD.
January 6, 2014
Council Transpo Committee Passes NYPD Hit-and-Run Transparency Bill
The City Council transportation committee passed a bill today that would require NYPD to issue quarterly reports on hit-and-run crashes and investigations.
December 18, 2013
Senior Killed by Bus Driver in Bronx; Hit-and-Run Driver Kills Man in Queens
Two NYC pedestrians were killed by motorists over the weekend. One of the victims was a senior; the other was struck by a hit-and-run driver in the City Council district represented by Eric Ulrich, where at least five pedestrians have died in traffic in 2013.
December 9, 2013
Bill Bratton Will Be the Police Chief Tasked With Implementing Vision Zero
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has selected Bill Bratton to serve as New York City's next police commissioner. Bratton occupied the same post from 1994 to 1996 under the Giuliani administration and is credited with pioneering data-driven policing techniques. After Bratton left, one of the innovations his deputies introduced was TrafficStat, a system that tracked crash data, held precinct commanders accountable for street safety performance, and brought different agencies together to address problems.
December 5, 2013