NYC Launches Major Traffic Safety Campaign

With funding from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee and the federal government, the city is using a combination of public service announcements and heightened enforcement in hopes of better protecting pedestrians, writes Ben Fried. Failure-to-yield violations are a factor in 27 percent of accidents that injure or kill pedestrians in New York, and speeding is involved in 20 percent. The program will also focus on bicyclists who ride on the sidewalk, against signals and the wrong way down city streets.

The initiative is welcomed by transit advocacy groups like Transportation Alternatives, which lent its support in a statement:

"We're all neighbors, and exercising courtesy and respect will prevent crashes and save life and limb. It will also help to rein in NYC's chaotic streets and make the city a more welcoming and desirable place to live. While the DOT has done a lot of work to design safer streets, only the Police Department can enforce the rules of the road."