Traffic safety and pedestrian safety are often overlooked issues that plague our communities. New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s 2024 traffic safety report showed a rise in traffic fatalities across Long Island between 2019 and 2022. Newsday Long Island referenced this data in a recent look into the rise of traffic fatalities on Long Island and efforts being made to combat the issue. On a state level, the Long Island region had the most fatalities per 100,000 people in NYS in 2022. With this increase in traffic fatalities comes a demand for change, in which we all can take part to make a safer Long Island.
The June 2024 report navigated through the traffic safety discussion on a state and federal level, presenting data that confirmed a rise in traffic violations and fatalities over the three-year period. Figure five of the report illustrates the types of vehicles and the individuals most affected by these crashes in 2022.
Figure Five for June 2024 Report
Passenger vehicles led with 75% regularity and vehicle passengers led the individual fatalities, followed by pedestrians. A traffic safety issue is a pedestrian safety issue. The Institute of Traffic Safety Management and Research (ITSMR) collected the data for 2022 and preliminary data for 2023 across NYS. In 2022, there was a reported 78,047 crashes on Long Island with 228 fatalities. Of this total, 1,279 crashes involved pedestrians and resulted in 71 fatalities. The preliminary data for 2023 showed evidence for the reported increase with 79,789 crashes and 199 fatalities. 1,352 of the crashes were pedestrian crashes, resulting in 69 fatalities.
These fatalities are not overlooked, and efforts are being made on both a state and federal level. With the federal Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act (IIJA) in 2021, funding for engineering has been allocated, but that takes time and won’t fix the problem tomorrow. Education efforts across Long Island are implemented to provide pedestrians with the knowledge they need to do their part in the equation. Walk Safe Long Island is a law-based pedestrian and cyclist safety education campaign between the Long Island Health Collaborative and The New York Coalition for Transportation Safety as an effort to provide Long Islanders with the education and confidence they need to navigate Long Island’s car-centric streets as pedestrians and cyclists. Free community education events such as Walk Safe with a Doc, led by NYCTS Executive Director Cynthia Brown, offer real-world examples of how to handle both normal and complicated traffic intersections (situations). In June of 2024, NYCTS and Walk Safe Long Island also held the 2nd Annual Walk Bike Long Island Summit to educate the community about pedestrian and bicycle safety. It was also an opportunity for partnering with other like-minded organizations interested in reducing injuries and fatalities from motor vehicles.
These local efforts to improve roadway safety support the efforts demonstrated on the federal level in the Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy. NYCTS became the first Long Island-based organization to sign on as an Ally in Action and help enforce safer people and safer speeds in our community through education. Widespread change is possible through our individual efforts to navigate our roads safely. For the betterment of our community, state, and country we all need to drive safe, walk safe, and learn how to help create safer roads for all users.
About Walk Safe Long Island (WSLI)
WSLI is a pedestrian and cyclist safety campaign that aims to teach Long Islanders about walking and biking safely through law-based education. WSLI is produced for the New York Coalition for Transportation Safety by the Long Island Health Collaborative, funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with a grant from the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.
New York State is taking numerous measures to tackle the issue of pedestrian and cyclist safety, all of which culminate in the New York State Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (PSAP). The plan emphasizes making streets safer by implementing the “Three Es—” engineering, enforcement, and education. Walk Safe Long Island is part of the third “E,” education.
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