City Launches Safe Streets for Seniors to Reduce Traffic Fatalities Among Seniors
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Department for the Aging Commissioner Edwin Méndez-Santiago launched "Safe Streets for Seniors," a major new pedestrian safety initiative for older New Yorkers, which will work in conjunction with the new All Ages Project that's re-envisioning what it means to grow older in New York City. The Mayor also released final 2007 traffic fatality data today showing that traffic fatalities in New York City dropped to the lowest level since records started being kept in 1910: 271 traffic fatalities citywide, down more than 30% since 2001. There were also an all-time low 136 pedestrian deaths last year-13% fewer than previous lows in both 2004 and 2005.
Read the full press release.
Download a complete presentation about the Safe Streets for Seniors program.
Download the 2007 Safe Streets NYC: Traffic Safety Improvements in New York City report.
NYCDOT examined accident histories across the city and identified 25 city neighborhoods that have both a high density of senior citizens and a high number of pedestrian accidents or injuries, looking at variables like visibility, lighting, drivers' compliance with traffic and pedestrian signals and the width of the roadway.
As part of the Safe Streets for Seniors program, engineers will evaluate pedestrian conditions in these neighborhoods from a senior's perspective and make engineering changes such as extending pedestrian crossing times at crosswalks and shortening crossing distances, altering curbs and sidewalks, restricting vehicle turns, and narrowing roadways.
Key:
* = Slated to be part of 2008 pilot program
B = Brooklyn
M = Manhattan
Q = Queens
S = Staten Island
X = Bronx