Vision Zero was created by then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2014 with the goal of eliminating all forms of traffic deaths from the streets and all five boroughs. Although the program has resulted in a substantial reduction in New York City car accident fatalities, some of the early progress risks being undone due to a recent surge in deaths on city streets. If you or a loved one has been injured in any way in a motor vehicle accident in Brooklyn, you may be entitled to financial compensation.

What Are the Parts of Vision Zero?

There are four key pillars to Vision Zero:

  • Engineering: Vision Zero aims to improve roadway designs to protect the most vulnerable of users, especially pedestrians and bicyclists. These engineering improvements have resulted in safer crossings and more bicycle lanes.
  • Education: The program has worked to educate New York City drivers on both the law and some of the potential dangers that they may pose to others.
  • Traffic Enforcement: Vision Zero has a number of enforcement initiatives to ensure that drivers follow traffic laws. For example, authorities are currently working to catch “ghost cars,” where drivers are violating traffic laws in cars with forged license plates.
  • Legislation: New York City officials are working at the state level to persuade legislators to pass common-sense legislation to increase motor vehicle safety on city streets.

Vision Zero has led to New York City bucking the national trends of increasing motor vehicle accident fatalities. City officials claim that bicycle accident fatalities have dropped by 60% since the start of the program. Pedestrian accident fatalities have fallen by 45%. Overall, motor vehicle accident fatalities in New York City have dropped by 12% since the start of Vision Zero. However, car accident deaths have risen slightly.

New York City Has Seen a Recent Increase in Car Accident Fatalities

In 2024, many of the improvements made by Vision Zero seem to have vanished. This year saw a spike in car accident fatalities in New York City. Authorities have attributed this increase to more dangerous driving habits, especially speeding.

One of the main factors that limit the continued effectiveness of Vision Zero is the fact that city officials need to work with the state to pass traffic laws that can improve safety. There are state laws that often impede the goals and aims of Vision Zero. For example, New York City is limited in the number of traffic cameras that it can install. State law only allows cameras at 1% of the overall number of intersections. In addition, state law also limits the use of speed cameras to school districts, and the city is only allowed to have 750 traffic cameras in total.

Safety in Brooklyn could be even more improved if authorities were allowed to install cameras on major roads, such as the Belt Parkway and the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. Further, there has also been a decrease in cooperation between New York City and state officials. In the past, a more harmonious relationship allowed the city to make the necessary changes and get the funding it needed to improve traffic safety. However, New York City and the state have worked together less in the past several years, in part due to changes in leadership. It remains to be seen whether cooperation can be improved in order to protect those who use New York City streets from serious traffic injuries.

Contact the Brooklyn Car Accident Lawyers at Rubenstein & Rynecki Today for Help with Your Claim

If you have been injured in a crash on New York City streets, contact the Brooklyn car accident lawyers at Rubenstein & Rynecki for the legal help you need. You can schedule a free initial consultation with one of our car accident lawyers by calling us today at 718-522-1020 or by submitting our online contact form. Our office is located in Brooklyn, New York, and we proudly serve clients throughout New York City, including Brooklyn, The Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.