Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Release #11-38

Seth Solomonow/Nicole Garcia (212) 839-4850

NYC DOT Receives Prestigious Public Service Award from NHTSA for Traffic-Safety Initiatives

Agency cited for creative, sustained focus on reducing traffic fatalities and injuries

New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today accepted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) public service award, recognizing the agency’s efforts to make New York City’s streets safer for everyone, and especially for pedestrians. Each year, NHTSA recognizes key players in the transportation industry for exemplary achievement in promoting highway safety across America. With DOT’s Safe Streets for Seniors and Safe Routes to Schools campaigns—signature safety programs that tailor streets in all five boroughs so its easier for seniors and school children to cross the street—in place, and with sweeping efforts by the agency to re-engineer streets and calm traffic in areas that need it most citywide, New York City’s streets are safer than ever. The last four years recorded the fewest traffic fatalities in the city in a century. NHTSA Deputy Administrator Ronald Medford presented the award, which is one of 17 nationwide, to Commissioner Sadik-Khan at the World Traffic Safety Symposium at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, held in conjunction with the New York International Auto Show.

“New York is the safest big city in the nation, and these are hard-earned results from the tireless focus and dedication that the 4,626 men and women working at DOT bring to their roles daily,” said Commissioner Sadik-Khan. “We will continue to innovate and bring new ideas to our streets, roadways and bridges so that they’re safer and work better for everyone on them.”

To expand its ongoing safety efforts, DOT released its landmark Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan last year, which maps out a series of new strategies designed to make the streets safer for New Yorkers, whether they’re walking, riding a bike or in a vehicle. In addition to installing pedestrian countdown signals at 1,500 locations citywide, the agency will pilot a program to test the safety performance of neighborhood 20 m.p.h zones and make safety upgrades at 60 miles of streets per year for greater pedestrian safety. DOT recently launched the citywide rollout of speed boards to encourage drivers to slow down along corridors with histories of excessive speeding. DOT also re-introduced its “That’s Why It’s 30” anti-speeding ad campaign to educate New Yorkers that the City’s standard speed limit is 30 m.p.h.

For more information, visit www.nyc.gov.

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