How New York City ranks in terms of pedestrian deaths: Part II

In our previous post, we began a discussion about an annual report published by the National Complete Streets Coalition. The report, called “Dangerous By Design 2014,” ranked major cities and regions of the country on several metrics related to fatal pedestrian accidents.

Unsurprisingly, New York City and the surrounding region topped the list in terms of overall pedestrian fatalities. Between 2003 and 2012, approximately 3,384 pedestrians were killed, and these fatalities accounted for 32.5 percent of all traffic deaths in the region. But New York has far more pedestrians than most other cities. The report accounts for this by ranking cities using a “Pedestrian Danger Index.”

The PDI, according to the report, “is the rate of pedestrian deaths relative to the number of people who walk to work in the region.” This allows pedestrian deaths to be compared across cities as a rate rather than an overall number. In terms of its Pedestrian Danger Index, New York and its surrounding region ranked 48th out of 51 total. New York’s PDI was 28.43 percent, compared to the 244.28 percent topping the list.

As it happens, the four cities taking the top four spots are all located in Florida. The six after that are all major cities in the South.

In one respect, New York City seems to be comparatively safe for pedestrians. But the number of pedestrian deaths in New York is still much too high and needs to be addressed. Hopefully, campaigns like “Vision Zero” (launched by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration) will prove effective and gain the support of all New Yorkers.

Source: The Huffington Post, “New Report Ranks America’s Deadliest Cities For Pedestrians,” James Cave, May 21, 2014