Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

November 15, 2015

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you so much, Samara. And I have to tell you, first of all, thank you for all you’ve done – you could go back a long way – and thank you for your strength and your activism, and for taking your family’s pain and turning it into action. 

I think Samara said something very important there about the status quo. There’s a lot of things that have been accepted as the status quo that we should not accept. A lot of what we believe in this administration is that the status quo needs to be challenged and questioned. This is one example that is particularly powerful. 

For years and years, we lost people because we didn’t make the changes we had to make for the city, and we didn’t change people’s behavior – we didn’t change the way they understood their role, particularly as drivers of vehicles. We had to [inaudible] – we had to change it to the core. 

And that is happening now. And it is happening, first and foremost, because of the families – the families who stood up. And they bore witness. They spoke loudly. They used their own pain and their own example to wake people up, to say we had to put the most important thing first, which was saving lives – not rushing to your next appointment, trying to get through one more light, but actually saving lives. 

And what the families have done is to change the consciousness of all New Yorkers, to change the laws here in the city and Albany, to jolt people out of their slumber and make us realize that we had to do things differently. 

There is no way to take away the pain – I understand that fully. But there is a way to turn the pain into action, and turn the action into victory. These families have done that. Let’s give them all a round of applause.

[Applause]

I particularly want to thank, in terms of the organized effort, Families for Safe Streets, because this organization has moved mountains. 

I want to thank Transportation Alternatives for their good work.

I want to thank three members of this administration – and I’m going to name them all and then I’m going to ask you all to salute them for what they’ve done, because they are true believes in Vision Zero. They’ve put their hearts and soul and their time and energy into making it real, and it is working because of them – our transportation commissioner, Polly Trottenberg; our TLC commissioner, Meera Joshi; and the Chief of Transportation for the NYPD, Thomas Chan. Let’s give them a big [inaudible]. 

[Applause]

So many of the elected officials have stood with us with real passion, also insisting on the change to their great credit. I want to thank our public advocate, Tish James; Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer; Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney; Chair of the City Council Transportation Committee, who’s been a key partner in this, Ydanis Rodriguez; Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer; Council Member Helen Rosenthal – they’ve all been at the forefront of this effort. Let’s give them all a round of applause. 

[Applause]

Now, today we honor those who have been lost here in the city, but we honor who’ve been lost all over the world. We honor them, we remember them, we celebrate their lives – again, the best way [inaudible] is truly to take their lives and give them added meaning and purpose as they continue this fight and deepen this fight; to take that pain and take that loss and turn it into something that will save another life, that will spare another family that pain. 

I know it’s happening already. And everyone here knows we’ve come a long way, but there’s no willingness among any of us to stop. This is a beginning. I’ve said over the last year, Vision Zero has just started. We’re going to take it a lot farther. And we need action all over this country in the same way – and that means further action here in the city, in this state, in this country to save lives. 

It’s really important to realize the example we’re setting here in this New York City can help others. It’s important to realize that what we’re showing can be done here can save lives elsewhere as well. So, we have a special obligation as the biggest city in this country, as a city that has the eyes of the world on it at all times. We have a special obligation to keep going, and deepen Vision Zero all the time. 

We know that traffic violence doesn’t discriminate. It touches every neighborhood, every kind of family. And what those families have in common is their lives were torn apart by a crash that could have been avoided. That’s what we seek to act on every day. We know the pain doesn’t go away, as I said, but we also can take a little solace at the actions we’ve taken together, making a difference for families. We know that when you compare this year to two years ago – just two years ago in 2013 – if we had continued to lose people at the same rate as in 2013, there would have been 92 more people lost – 92 more lives gone, if we had continued on that path. It is because of you 92 New Yorkers are still alive today. 

We know there’s so much we can do, and we’ve seen it. We’ve seen it already – lowering the speed limit makes a real difference. Some people said it couldn’t be done. But, in fact – not only achieved as a matter of law – it is changing the behavior of New Yorkers. There’s more to do, but you can see the change already. Redesigning the streets – over 130 streets and intersections redesigned already, and many more to come, makes a difference – it saves lives. It must continue. 140 speed cameras – we’ve seen the difference already. Where those speed cameras are in place, people slow down. It changes behavior. The numbers are overwhelming. And, as I say, we’re going to continue to deepen our public education efforts. We need your help in that every day. We need your strong voices educating people that their behavior must change for the good of all, for our children, for our seniors, for their families as well. We need to help people understand the lives they are saving could be the lives of their own family members. We have to keep up that public education effort. 

But I always say, there’s another very, very powerful, very tangible public education effort, and that is the enforcement efforts of the NYPD, because every time someone is pulled over for speeding, every time someone is pulled over for failure to yield to a pedestrian, that’s education too. That’s reminding these drivers there are consequences to their reckless actions. NYPD – I thank Chief Chan, again – NYPD has doubled the number of tickets for speeding, tripled the number of tickets for failure to yield to pedestrians, and that effort will only continue and deepen. Because if it takes the presence of an NYPD car, and an officer walking up to your window, and a ticket that will cost you a lot of money – if that’s what it takes to change behavior, I guarantee you, we’ll give you plenty of that.

[Applause]

We simply will not rest, and I know the family members here will not rest. So long as there’s one more thing we can do, one more law that needs to be passed, one more driver that needs to be pulled over, one more person that needs to be educated – we will not stop. Vision Zero has just begun, and it will deepen, it will get stronger, it will save more lives. And the people of New York City owe it to these families who started us on the right path to a safer city.

Just a few words in Spanish –

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish] 

With that, I just want to say a profound thank you to your extraordinary movement. It’s been an honor to stand at your side. I look forward to getting even more done in the name of safety, in the name of a better city in 2016. 

God bless you all, and thank you for all you do.