‘Walking on the sidewalk should not be a death sentence’: Statement After Crash Kills Two Pedestrians Walking on Sidewalk in Inwood
In the past five years, 36 people have been injured in traffic violence at this intersection, including 12 pedestrians and two cyclists.
Crashes have killed 149 people so far in 2022 — a 15 percent increase over the Vision Zero average, and just shy of 2021’s record-breaking fatalities
NEW YORK — Early Wednesday morning, two drivers crashed into each other, sending one car onto the sidewalk, killing two pedestrians on Sherman Avenue near W. 207th Street and injuring five others.
According to news reports, video shows one driver sped through a red light. There are no red-light cameras in this ZIP code and only one red-light camera north of 96th Street in Manhattan.
Statement from Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Danny Harris:
“Earlier this week, speed safety cameras began 24/7 operation. While this is a significant win for street safety, Vision Zero has always depended on a multi-layered approach to keeping people safe.”
“To reach Vision Zero, we need the Adams administration to redesign streets for safety and for Albany to let us expand additional automated enforcement tools. Right now, state law only allows red light cameras at 1 percent of signalized intersections in all five boroughs. This restriction is deadly, and we demand that Albany legislators lift the limits on the red light camera program to start saving lives.”
“Walking on the sidewalk should not be a death sentence, yet, today, like too many other days in this city, it was. We send our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the two people killed in the preventable crash uptown this morning.”
Additional information on background:
New York City’s red-light camera program reduced injuries from T-bone crashes by 58 percent.
Citywide, crashes have killed 149 people in 2022 — as many as this point in 2014, the first year of Vision Zero.
In Manhattan, traffic fatalities have killed 23 people in 2022, a 92 percent increase over 2018, the safest year in recent history. Ten of those 23 were pedestrians, two-thirds higher than in 2018.
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